My Little Pony: A Race Against Time
by CJ Ambrose
Summary: Twilight and her friends have faced many challenges throughout their years of great friendship, but when they encounter a mysterious and revenge-seeking pony that has them traveling around other worlds, things start to take a big turn. Takes place after Season 6. Also guest-starring Stardust Balance from "A Journey Beyond Sanity".
1. Prologue and Tanked

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 1: Prologue and Tanked_

 _Author's Note - "My Little Pony" is owned by DHX Media and Hasbro._

* * *

On a dark and stormy night, at a secret location that was in the Everfree Forest, a sinister plan was nearing its completion.

 _"Are you sure that all of them will be heading to the Crystal Empire?"_

The voice belonged to a cloaked and hooded figure that was in front of a burning fireplace... while his reluctant servant was standing in the middle of the room.

"Um... yes, sir," replied the Earth Pony, whose name was Casey. "Even the two little ponies."

 _"What about the winged one?"_

Casey replied, "The little Pegasus is too sick to make the trip, but they all-"

 _"No matter, it will not make that much of a difference,"_ interrupted his master. _"All that matters is that, starting tomorrow, my revenge will be final..."_

With a grin, the cloaked animal added, _"And there's nothing that anypony can_ _ **do**_ _about it!"_

Casey gulped, and said, "Well, um, if that will be all, sir, then..."

He began to head towards the door, but it suddenly closed shut on him.

 _"Oh, you aren't quite done yet, slave,"_ said the mysterious figure. _"I need you to find that time machine to bring that other pony, and then, I want you to lure all of them into the area that I have prepared in the castle, in order for my plan to work."_

"But how am I supposed to-" began Casey, but he instantly stopped talking when the flames began to grow brighter.

 _"Do not question me, you worthless pony! Just get them into that room, or else I'll make you regret it!"_

As the door re-opened, Casey quickly nodded his head. "Yes, sir... thank you, sir..."

 _Whoosh!_

Once the Earth Pony was gone, the cloaked figure began to grin in an evil way.

 _"You may think that 'friendship is magic', Twilight Sparkle,"_ laughed the pony. _"But you've never encountered_ _ **my**_ _magic!"_

Then, he began to let out an evil laugh.

 _"Ha-ha-ha... ha-ha-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha!"_

* * *

With the doors now closed, the Friendship Express began its journey from Ponyville to the Crystal Empire.

Aside from the conductor, the only occupants aboard the train were Twilight Sparkle, as well as the rest of the Mane Six, and Twilight's number-one assistant/"little brother" Spike.

They had also brought along Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, who were the little sisters of Applejack and Rarity.

Unfortunately, Scootaloo (the little Pegasus pony that idolized Rainbow Dash) was currently under the weather, and could not join them on the trip.

"Are you alright, Starlight?" Twilight asked, looking at the unicorn sitting next to her.

Her name was Starlight Glimmer, and she was a reformed magical unicorn that had become a new friend of theirs, as well as Twilight's friendship pupil.

"Yeah, but I'm just... feeling a _little_ nervous of seeing Sunburst," admitted Starlight, who was referring to her long-time childhood friend that had knowledgeable skills in magic.

"I haven't seen him since we first met Thorax there."

Twilight placed a comforting hoof around her shoulder. "I'm sure that he'll be glad to see you, especially since you saved all of us from Chrysalis. Plus, wasn't he the one who sent Thorax to help?"

Before Starlight could reply, however, a certain blue Pegasus was starting to chuckle. "I don't think she's feeling nervous at all, Twilight."

"Well, what else would it be, then?" asked the Princess of Friendship.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Twilight? I thought you knew everything!"

While Twilight appeared confused, Starlight began to blush. "Don't be silly, Rainbow, I don't-"

 _"Ooh, ooh, I know, I know!"_ exclaimed Pinkie Pie, an Earth Pony that should never be questioned.

She took a deep breath, and said, "Starlight is starting to discover feelings for Sunburst, so she isn't feeling _nervousness_ in her stomach, it's _butterflies_ because she _likes_ him!

"Plus, I'm sure that she knows that he knows what we didn't know until we actually _did know_ about her and Discord and Thorax and Trixie saving us from that evil queen and all of the Changelings becoming good-"

"Um, Pinkie, that isn't what I-"

"But she's also worried about what will happen when he finds out that she had us all under her mind-control, or that your castle almost became a water-animal park, or even when she tried creating a spell that would erase Hearth's Warming Eve _forrreeevverrr_!"

Once Pinkie had finished, everyone had no idea what to say.

"Um, that last one was _Snowfall Frost,_ Pinkie," corrected the purple alicorn. "And is she right, Starlight?"

The blushing unicorn said, "Um... well... I don't know..."

"But, um... haven't you known him since you were a filly?" asked Fluttershy, a shy and yellow-ish Pegasus that represented the Element of Kindness.

Starlight replied, "I mean, yeah, but that doesn't mean I-"

"And, didn't you help him realize his true potential, darling, during the whole _incident_ with Flurry Heart?" said Rarity, a white unicorn that had an incredible fashion designer sense.

"Well, he was the one that knew what spell to-"

"And why else would your face be blushing as bright as the apples from Apple Acres?" added Applejack, who was an Earth Pony that had the Element of Honesty.

Before Starlight could reply back, Applejack's little sister said, "Aw, you don't gotta be so nervous, Starlight, your wizard friend's a cool unicorn!"

"Yeah, definitely," added Sweetie Belle, who was Rarity's younger sister. "Besides, it's not like you're Spike whenever he tries to-"

 _"Ssshhhhhh!"_ exclaimed the little purple dragon, but then, he noticed all of the ponies looking at him now. "What?"

"What did she mean by that, Spikey-Wikey?" Rarity asked, while the others rolled their eyes since they were all well-aware of the dragon's crush on the beautiful unicorn.

"Er, well," said Spike, now thinking fast. "It's whenever I try to... um... avoid being ambushed by the fanatic Crystal Ponies!"

Everyone except Rarity sighed, while Spike continued on. "Yeah, I mean, they'll probably be all over me _more_ now that they know I was Thorax's first friend."

"What does that even-" started Starlight, but then, Twilight turned her head towards her.

"Starlight, it's okay to feel... _strange_... at times like this. I'm sure Sunburst will at least appreciate the visit."

Her pupil smiled, and nodded her head. "Thanks, Twilight."

"Of course," replied the purple unicorn.

"Besides," said Applejack, suddenly showing a sly grin. "You're just like the way Twilight was when she bumped into that one guard at Canterlot."

"I _told you_ I don't know anything about him," said Twilight, who was starting to blush, as well. "He was just-"

"A pony that reminded you of a person you met in the other world that Sunset Shimmer stays at now," interrupted Pinkie Pie. "And that danced with you at the Fall Formal, as well as hugging you after you won the Battle of the Bands to beat the Sirens-

 _ ***gasp***_

"But then he met the other you that's not really interested in him, so after talking to Sunset, he decided to accept the fact that you're probably never ever going to come back, unless the crack in the portal that's releasing energy beams _does_ make you come back!"

At first, no one said a word... for at least a minute, which is when Spike asked, "How did you know all that stuff, Pinkie?"

She simply gave a small shrug. "But enough about me... do we know if Starlight _likes_ Sunburst, or what?"

Starlight groaned, and began to slide downward to the floor, feeling embarrassed.

"Wow," said Pinkie Pie. "I wish _I_ could do that!"


	2. New Arrival, Part 1

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 2 - New Arrival, Part 1  
_

 _Author's Note - "My Little Pony" is owned by DHX Media and Hasbro._

* * *

As the Friendship Express began to make its stop at the Train Station in the Crystal Empire, Starlight still seemed a little bit nervous.

"Don't worry, Starlight," assured Twilight. "You'll be fine."

Her student gave a smile in response, and once the train stopped, she said, "Yeah... I will be."

Spike stood in front of the doors, and after they opened, he stepped onto the platform. "All right, guys, let's go-"

 _"It's him, everyone! The heroic Spike has returned!"_

The small dragon watched as a large crowd of Crystal Ponies started running towards him. He let out a small gulp, and began to back-up slowly.

"Ok, uh, I think it would be best if-"

 _Whoosh!_

Spike turned around, and saw that Twilight was using her magic to keep the doors closed!

" _Seriously?"_ exclaimed Spike, as he began to bang on the doors. "This isn't funny any- _aaauuggghhh!_ "

The crowd of Crystal Ponies had arrived, and started to take Spike away from the train.

"Guys! Help me! Open the-"

But his sentence was cut off as he disappeared into the crowd, with one of the ponies yelling, _"We've got him!"_

Then, all of them started to run back to the city, while Twilight stopped using her magic, thus opening the doors.

"I sure do hope he'll be alright," said Rarity.

"Ah, he'll be fine," chuckled Twilight, as she walked out of the train. "Feeling better now, Starlight?"

Her laughing pupil replied, "Yeah, and now I can prepare how-"

 _"Hi, Princess Twilight!"_

 ***gulp*** "Never mind..."

"Hi, Sunburst," greeted Twilight. "Were you there the whole time?"

The magical unicorn shook his head. "Not exactly, I was on my way over when the large crowd just zoomed right past me. Hope Spike's okay."

"I'm sure he will be," replied Twilight. "They'll probably stop at the giant statue they have of him, and ask a bunch of questions and praise him and blah, blah, blah..."

Sunburst chuckled, and said, "Well, as long as - oh, hi, Starlight!"

Twilight turned her head to see her friends pushing a nervous Starlight out of the train, and once she was, Rarity used her magic to stop Starlight from coming back in.

"Oh, um, ha ha, hi Sunburst," said Starlight, giving him a small smile. "How have you been?"

"I've been very well, thanks for asking," replied the orange unicorn. "You've certainly had quite an adventure yourself, haven't you? I sure am glad that Thorax was able to reach you in time."

Starlight let out a sigh of relief, saying, "Oh, you have no idea... I didn't think there would be anyone left _to_ help us."

"Well, I'm glad to see that nothing terrible happened to you or the others."

The light-purple unicorn became surprised at his statement. "You were... worried about me?"

"Of course. You're my best - and first - friend, Starlight. Why wouldn't I care?"

Starlight simply blushed, a little, and said, "Well, I mean, I am touched-"

" _Okay_ , can we get to the birthday party already?" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, as the others followed her out of the train. _"I'm starving!"_

Sunburst chuckled, and began to lead them away from the train station. "Of course. Shining Armor and Cadence can't wait to see you all, especially Flurry Heart."

As they followed him, Starlight thought to herself, _I really hope nothing worse than this happens today._

"Um, Mr. Sunburst, sir?" Everyone looked back at the platform, and saw that the voice was coming from an Earth Pony... that had been flattened like a pancake because of the large crowd.

"No worries, I got this!" Pinkie Pie walked over to him, placing one end of a "bendy" straw in her mouth, and the other into his.

Then, she began to blow air into him as if she were blowing air into a balloon until, eventually, there was enough air for him to...

 _Poof!_

"There ya go!"

The restored pony coughed a few times, and said, "Thanks... ow, my head..."

Sunburst smiled, and said, "Everyone, I would like to introduce you to my assistant, Casey."

"An assistant?" Starlight said, surprised. "Wow. Is Flurry Heart that much of a handful?"

"You'd be surprised," admitted Sunburst. "But he helps out with other things, as well, and it's nice having somepony to give lessons to."

The country-speaking Earth Pony walked over to Casey, and shook his hoof. "Pleasure to meet ya, sugarcube. My name's Applejack, and this is my little sister, Applebloom."

"Howdy, Casey, nice to meet ya!"

Sweetie Belle introduced herself next, followed by Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Starlight, and Rarity.

Then, Twilight came up to him, and said, "Hi, Casey, I'm Twilight Sparkle."

The two of them shook hooves, and Casey said, "It's a pleasure to, um... finally meet you, Twilight."

Rainbow suddenly frowned, and muttered, "He never said that to us."

Applejack looked at her, and she replied, "What?"

Sunburst walked over to stand by the princess, saying, "He's a big fan of yours, Twilight."

Casey began to blush, feeling embarrassed. "I-I mean... well, I've seen so - I mean, heard so much about you... ever since you defeated Nightmare Moon..."

Twilight gave him a warm smile. "You don't have to be nervous, Casey. I enjoy making new friends."

Casey simply nodded his head, which was still red, and whispered, "Um... thanks."

"Wow, and I thought you were the shyest pony in all of Equestria," said Rainbow Dash, looking at Fluttershy.

"Oh, leave him alone," replied Fluttershy. "He can't help it if he has a crush on Twilight."

All of a sudden, everyone except her was now looking at Casey. "Uh-oh, did I... say that out loud?"

While Rainbow Dash slowly started laughing, an embarrassed Casey began to quickly walk away.

"Um, I will just... see you all later..."

 _Woosh!_

Then, all of a sudden, he took off in a flash, leaving a gust of wind behind.

"I'm sorry," whispered Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash was still laughing silently, to herself, until Twilight gave her a look that made her stop immediately. "Me, too."

Sunburst sighed, and said, "You'll see him later... sorry about that, princess."

"It's fine," replied Twilight. And kind of... sweet, actually..."

"He means well," said Sunburst. "You two would actually make a good pair of friends."

Before Twilight could respond, Rainbow said, "Are you sure not _more_ than friends?"

As she started laughing again, a blushing Twilight rolled her eyes as they continued on with following Sunburst towards the city.


	3. New Arrival, Part 2

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 3 - New Arrival, Part 2_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony" is owned by DHX Media and Hasbro._

* * *

A few minutes later, just as Twilight had predicted, Spike was by his statue, retelling his _incredible story_ about how he'd saved the Crystal Empire twice.

"Did you have fun?" Twilight asked, a look of amusement on her face.

"Once everyone stopped trying to grab me, yeah," replied Spike, still annoyed with her a little for keeping the doors closed on him.

Twilight chuckled, and looked around the city, admiring the decorations and other fun festivities that her BBBFF and sister-in-law had set up for their baby's first birthday.

 _"Twily!"_

As if on cue, Shining Armor made his way towards his little sister, with Princess Cadence at his side, who was using her magic to push a crib that held Flurry Heart.

"Oh, she looks _so_ adorable!" Rarity said, looking down at the alicorn toddler.

Applejack took a look, and smirked at her friend. "Um, she looks the same to me, Rarity."

The white unicorn rolled her eyes, and said, "Honestly, Applejack, you have no sense or appreciation of style."

"Now, that's just crazy talk right there," replied the farming pony. "This hat right here I got on is part of my style."

"Oh, honestly, darling, of all the ridiculous..." continued Rarity, but Twilight simply ignored her as she went over to talk to Cadence.

* * *

Casey was silently walking by the houses of the Crystal Ponies, not taking any part in the festivities.

 _"Slave!"_

Taking a small gulp, Casey went over to a nearby pond, and looked at the water, which dissolved into a reflection of his cloaked master.

 _"Is the Crystal Mirror still in the castle, or not?"_

Casey tried to figure out what were the right words for him to-

 _"Answer me, SLAVE!"_

The Earth Pony winced at his master's raised tone. "No, sir, it's no longer there."

His master scoffed, and said, _"No matter, I'll get that mustard-colored pony somehow. You just work on leading the Mane Six into that room."_

"But what Spike, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle?" wondered Casey. "I thought they-"

 _"You worthless moron, I do not care about a baby dragon or two weak-minded brats,"_ growled the cloaked pony. _"All I want you to do is bring the Mane Six into the room, where I will then take care of everything else."_

Before Casey could say anything else, his master said, " _Just get... it... done."_

Then, a small wave of ripples appeared in the water, erasing the image of his cruel master, and leaving a scared Casey to be alone with his thoughts.

 _Why can't I just do the right thing?_ wondered the Earth Pony, as he began to have second thoughts regarding his master's sinister plot.

He looked at his cutie mark, which was a silver crescent moon, along with a bright, blue-colored, and eight-pointed star. _This isn't who I am._

Did he have feelings for Twilight? Well, yes, but he wasn't exactly _in love_ with her... he just hoped that, maybe one day, they could go out on a date, then see what happened next.

Was he a cruel-hearted pony, like his master? Not in any way whatsoever..

How did he end up serving him, then?

Well, let's just say that, on a day that he was gathering ingredients in the Evergreen Forest for Sunburst, Casey had gone to the wrong place at the wrong time...

So, then, he ended up becoming a spy, reporting anything that he'd seen or heard about regarding Twilight Sparkle and her friends... and, when the time was right, Casey would simply have to fulfill one last task before his services were no longer required.

 _Let's face it, Twilight would never want to hang out... let alone, go on a date with somepony like me,_ thought Casey as he sighed, and hung his head down in sadness.

"Casey?"

The Earth Pony turned to see Twilight, as well as the rest of the Mane Six.

"You alright, sugarcube?" Applejack looked at him with concern.

 _Lead them to the room, slave!_

Casey nodded his head, and he said, "Yeah, of course... and I'm sorry for the way that I acted earlier."

"So am I," replied Fluttershy, feeling bad. "I shouldn't have said what I said out loud."

Although the Earth Pony started to blush, he simply waved it off.

"It's fine, Fluttershy. Don't sweat it."

"So, you _do_ have a crush on Twilight, then?" wondered Rainbow Dash, making the other ponies roll their eyes. "What?"

Twilight walked over to Casey, and to everyone's surprise, she placed a necklace around him.

Holding the circular pendant in his hoof, Casey saw that it showed a turtle-dove behind a blue-sky background.

"W-why are you giving me this?" Not that he wasn't complaining, but it just seemed a bit odd to him, as well as the others.

Twilight gave him a warm smile, and said, "Well, I have a similar necklace at home, and as long as you keep that with you, we'll always be friends, no matter what."

 _Oh... friends..._ Casey slightly felt a little bit of rejection. _Makes sense since she's probably paired better with somepony else._

Noticing his slight disappointment, a blushing Twilight said, "Well, I mean, it could mean something more... possibly... after we get to know each other first?"

Casey instantly felt happier, and replied, "Thanks, Twilight."

Applejack nodded his head, and put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "That was somethin' real special, Twi."

 _Get them to the room, slave..._

All of a sudden, as he remembered his master's voice, Casey cleared his throat to say, "Um, if you all don't mind... I'd like to show you a special room inside the castle."

" _Ooh, really?"_ Pinkie Pie said, her curious eyes growing as wide as ping-pong balls. "What kind of special?"

"You'll have to see for yourself, Pinkie," replied Casey, gesturing towards the castle. "That okay?"

Rainbow Dash let out a yawn, and said, "If I eat any more food, I'll end up falling asleep, so... alright, I'm game."

Then, the others started to agree, as well, and Casey said, "Great! Now just follow me, and you'll see something amazing."

* * *

 _Meanwhile..._

 _"Yes, my plan is almost complete!"_

The cloaked figure was in the room that Casey would bring them to, and right now, he was looking at the wall paintings in front of him.

There was also five empty statue stands surrounding him. _"Yes, this will suit them very nicely."_

He looked down at the ground, which had a painted symbol that represented Twilight's Cutie Mark.

 _"And once the Princess of Friendship is out of the way, there will be NO PONY whatsoever in Equestria that can stop me!"_


	4. And So It Begins

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 4 - And So It Begins_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony" is owned by DHX and Hasbro._

* * *

Once they were inside the Crystal Castle, Casey began leading his friends to the "special room" that he had talked about.

"So, what exactly _is_ inside that room?" Rainbow asked, looking at their new friend with curiosity.

"Just a little, um... tribute that the, ah, Crystal Ponies made for you all," replied Casey, who was trying his best not to sound nervous.

Twilight raised an eyebrow, and said, "It's not something like Spike's statue, is it?"

Casey chuckled, and shook his head. "No, it's... a little more different than that."

As they continued walking, Rainbow was having a strange feeling inside of herself, which Rarity took notice of.

"Having a stomach ache, darling, from all of that food you consumed?"

Rainbow Dash shook her head, saying, "No, it's not that. I just feel like... something bad is about to hap - _whoa!_ "

The seven of them were now in front of a large door that resembled the star that Twilight had for a Cutie Mark.

Surrounding the star were carvings of the others' Cutie Marks, as well.

"Did _you_ create all of this?" Applejack asked, as she looked at the well-made carving of her Cutie Mark. "I'm impressed!"

Casey blushed a little, and said, "Well, I didn't necessarily do _all_ of it, but thanks anyway."

Pinkie Pie walked up to the door, looking all around it, and turned back to Casey. " _So,_ how do we open it if there's not any doorknobs?"

"Well, Pinkie," explained Casey, who was still trying to remain cool. "That is where Twilight comes in."

Rainbow chuckled, and said, "I'm guessing that's why hers is the biggest."

Twilight frowned at her friend, and she replied, "That's probably just a coincidence... so, do I use my magic then?"

"Uh-huh," replied Casey, nodding his head. "And you'll see the surprise I was talking about."

So, while everyone took a few steps back, Twilight walked over to the front of the door, and began to activate her magic.

But while she was doing that, Casey began to feel more guilty about the fact that none of them knew what was going to happen once they entered the room.

 _Click! Ding!_

Once she had finished, Twilight stepped back, and everyone watched as the star turned around a few times before splitting into two doors that opened sideways.

 _Maybe there's still a chance..._ thought Casey, who was looking at the necklace that Twilight had given him.

"Uh, hold up one second!"

The Mane Six all looked curiously at Casey, who walked over to stand in front of Twilight. "Maybe we should get Spike and Starlight to see this, as well?"

Twilight chuckled, and replied, "Uh, I think Spike has his own _special tribute_ to admire."

"Plus, I'm pretty sure that Starlight is busy with Sunburst to even think about enjoying this."

Casey frowned after hearing that. _Busy? Why would she be-_

All of a sudden, his eyes went wide as he realized another part of his master's plan.

 _No, not him... he promised me that-_

"Um, are you okay, Casey?" Fluttershy asked, noticing that he was also starting to turn pale.

Casey shook his head, and said, "Ok, this might sound crazy, but you all need to - _ulp!"_

He couldn't finish his sentence because a black tentacle had popped out from the room's shadows, and wrapped itself around Casey!

"Casey!" Twilight exclaimed, but before she could even help him, the tentacle quickly pulled the Earth Pony into the room.

She was about to go in, also, but Rarity cried, "Wait a minute, Twilight! We should probably alert Shining Armor or the guards about-"

"There's no time for that right now," replied a concerned Twilight. "We need to make sure he's okay!"

Before Rarity could say anything else, the alicorn princess ran into the room.

Then, at first, nopony did or said anything... until about a minute later when they heard Twilight cry out, " _Girls, you might want to take a look at this!_ "

 _"Huh?"_ wondered the five ponies, as they slowly entered the room.

 _Wham!_

All of a sudden, the doors closed themselves shut, and the lights turned on.

"What in tarnation is... all of... this..." Applejack couldn't figure out what to say next.

"Sweet Celestia... these are... absolutely _gorgeous_!" swooned Rairty, her eyes sparkling at the sight in front of her.

"Wow..." Fluttershy didn't know what else to say.

"This... is... _awesome_..." gasped a surprised Rainbow Dash.

Twilight, herself, was speechless at what was in front of her.

On the wall were five individual stained glass murals of Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy.

There was also five stands that were usually meant for statues, except they weren't any...

Until Pinkie Pie stood on top of the stand that was in front of her mural, spinning around in a circle.

"Pinkie!" exclaimed Rairty. "Get down from there before you break something."

"What's there to break?" asked the pink pony, who was still spinning.

Before Rarity could give her response, a menacing voice appeared. _"You're about to see for yourself."_

 _Boom! Boom! Boom!_

A dark blast of energy appeared from above, and shot down at Pinkie Pie, who became engulfed in a giant ball of light.

 _"Pinkie Pie!"_ Twilight cried, trying to shield her eyes from the brightness.

When the bright light disappeared, everypony couldn't believe what they were seeing now.

Pinkie Pie was still on top of the stand, except now, she was an actual stone-made statue.

"No... Pinkie..." gasped Twilight, who felt like she was almost ready to cry.

A teary-eyed Fluttershy asked, "Is... s-she-"

 _"Dead? Of course not..."_

Twilight and her friends turned around to see a cloaked pony, who was holding up a silver staff.

 _"But all of you are going to experience what she's going through right now..."_

He then aimed the tip of the staff at Twilight, saying, " _I'll be saving_ _ **you**_ _for last, your Highness."_

Rainbow Dash gritted his teeth, and she angrily yelled, " _Hey! No one does that to my friend!"_

"Dash, wait!" Twilight cried, but it was too late.

The winged pony charged towards the sinister newcomer, who responded by aiming his staff at her, trapping Rainbow inside of an energy ball.

 _"Let me out of this thing!"_ yelled an irritated Rainbow Dash.

Twilight and Rarity were about to use their own magic, but the cloaked pony said, _"Do anything, and I'll make things a_ _ **whole lot worse**_ _."_

The two of them de-powered their horns, which was enough for the cloaked pony as he sent Rainbow towards one of the empty stands.

 _"Twilight, help-"_ cried Rainbow, but her sentence was cut off once she became engulfed in the bright energy ball, as well.

 _Boom!_

 _"Two done..."_ laughed the cloaked pony, while the others were speechless at the sight of Rainbow Dash.

Just like Pinkie Pie, she was now turned to stone, and placed on the stand in front of her own mural.

 _"And four to go!"_


	5. Unbelievable

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 5 - Unbelievable_

 _Author's Note: DHX Media and Hasbro are the rightful owners of "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic"._

* * *

Starlight watched as Twilight and the others followed Casey inside the castle. _I wonder what he wants to-_

"Starlight?"

The light-purple unicorn turned to see her fillyhood friend walk over to her. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just... curious about your friend," said Starlight. "How long has he been your assistant?"

Sunburst thought about it, for a moment, and he replied, "Probably a few months after the whole Changeling catastrophe."

Starlight chuckled nervously, and said, "Yeah, about that... um... it wasn't exactly an easy task to accomplish."

"Oh, I'm sure," laughed Sunburst, making Starlight feel a little better. "Being a leader like that must have made you feel proud of yourself."

"Well, it certainly helped me forget about other things," replied Starlight, not realizing what she had said right now.

"Things like what?" Sunburst asked, tilting his head to the side.

Starlight gulped, and began feeling nervous again. _He'll probably think I've gone back to the way I used to be._

"Well, the thing is that I-"

"Hey, you two!" greeted Spike, walking over to them, as well as eating some cotton candy. "Have you seen Twilight or Pinkie anywhere?"

Starlight nodded her head. "I think I saw Casey taking them into the castle. Why, what's wrong?"

Spike swallowed the cotton candy that was in his mouth, and replied, "I want to know if they'll like some of this. It's _delicious_!"

So, the young dragon began to head towards the castle, while Sunburst said, "So, Starlight, what was it that-"

But when he turned to look at her, the magical unicorn saw that she was gone.

"I guess I'll see her later then," said Sunburst, letting out a sigh as he walked back to join the festivities.

 _Poof!_

Once he was gone, Starlight de-activated her "invisible spell", and watched her friend walk away.

 _"I'm really not good at this, am I?"_

* * *

With a small chuckle, the cloaked pony asked, " _Now, then... who'd like to volunteer themselves to be next?_ "

Th four remaining ponies looked at each other, with none of them saying anything out loud.

 _"Alright, then, I'm just going to-"_

"Now, hold up there just a cow-licking minute, partner," said Applejack, her muzzle turning into a frown. "What gives you the right to do something like this to us?"

"Yes, what did we ever do to you?" Rarity added, who was also upset.

The sinister pony smiled (even though they couldn't see it), and said, " _You were all born!"_

His silver staff powered up, and shot an energy blast that went straight towards Rarity, but just as she was about to get hit...

 _Boom!_

 _"Fluttershy!"_ cried Twilight, watching her friend get in the way of the blast so that it would hit her instead of Rarity.

"Oh, my..." gasped the white unicorn, who was in shock. "Not her, too."

The shy but sweet alicorn was now on top of the stand that was in front of her mural, and like the others, she had become a statue.

 _"Such a shame,"_ replied the cloaked pony. _"She was my penultimate choice."_

Twilight gritted her teeth, and exclaimed, "Why are you doing this? We never did _anything_ to you!"

The cloaked pony shook his head. _"My plan has constantly been ruined ever since the day you and Spike first arrived in Ponyville."_

"What in the hay are you talking about?" Applejack asked. "Y'all better be making some sense before I beat on you like a-"

The cloaked pony then looked at the hard-working Earth Pony, and said, " _Oh, spare me your country-isms, Applejack. Your parents almost annoyed me to death every time they said something like that."_

Applejack's eyes grew wide, and her muzzle almost dropped to the ground. "My... you met my mum and dad?"

" _As I said, there is always a reason for everything,_ " replied the cloaked pony. " _It almost pains me to see that their sacrifice will soon go to waste."_

Before Applejack could even respond to that, the cloaked pony shot an energy blast at her, and in a few seconds, she had suffered the same "statue fate" as the others.

 _"And, then there were two,"_ laughed the evil villain, looking at Rarity and Twilight.

"Please tell me you have some sort of idea," said Rarity, as she stood behind Twilight.

The magical alicorn looked at the cloaked pony, and then, at his silver staff. "Maybe if-"

" _I can assure the two of you that this is not a plain old stick that was found in the Everfree Forest,"_ said the cloaked pony. _"Even Casey could tell you that."_

Twilight gasped, remembering her new friend, and asked, "What did you with him?"

 _"You should ask him yourself."_

He let out a whistle, and the two ponies watched as Casey was tossed from one of the room's dark corners, landing in between them.

"My goodness, darling, are you all right?" Rarity asked, as she and Twilight helped him stand up.

"Yeah... I'll be okay," said Casey, although his voice sounded weak.

Twilight gave an angry glare at the cloaked pony. "What did you do to him?"

" _He tried to betray me_ ," he explained. " _So before I gave him freedom, I delivered some punishment._ "

"Freedom?" Rarity said, confused. "What do you mean by that?"

Casey looked at a confused Twilight, and said, "I am deeply sorry for all of this, your Highness. I never wanted this to happen."

"What do you mean?" asked the alicorn. "Casey, I thought-"

 _"That's enough from you, slave... and your services are no longer required."_

He shot a white-and-yellow energy blast at Casey, and after a small explosion, the Earth Pony was gone.

" _You killed him!_ " exclaimed Twilight, whose temper was starting to grow.

The cloaked pony laughed, and said, " _I simply did the same thing as I did your friends, minus the whole stone transformation._ "

Before Twilight could ask what that meant, the evil pony added, _"And you're about to get your own experience!"_

Twilight looked down at her hooves, seeing that she was standing on a painted design of her Cutie Mark, which started to light up.

" _Twilight!"_ Rarity yelled, but then, the cloaked pony aimed his staff at her.

 _Wham! Boom!_

" _No! Rarity!_ " Twilight watched as her friend transformed into a statue, just like everypony else.

She looked at the hooded figure, and yelled, " _Who are you?"_

The evil villain walked over to the princess, and said, _"I'm someone that you should have never messed with."_

Twilight looked at the doors behind him, but the hooded pony said, " _No one can save you, Princess. Only you can open that door, but it has to be on the other side."_

As the energy surrounding Twilight grew stronger, the hooded pony added, " _By the way, do send Sunset my regards._ "

Twilight gasped in shock and surprise. "You attacked her, too?"

 _"Indeed, I did, your Highness,"_ laughed the sinister pony. _"You're about to see her very soon."_

He then shot an energy blast at Twilight, and once it struck the alicorn, she was gone in a colourful explosion.

 _"Yes, Twilight Sparkle,"_ grinned the cloaked pony. _"You'll see her in a place where there are no... happily... ever... afters... and all of Equestria will soon belong to me!"_


	6. Time Travel, Part 1

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 6 - Time Travel, Part 1_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro._

 _Also, thanks to "The Warrior of Twilight" for granting me permission to include his OC character into my story._

 _You'll see whom I am referring to very soon._

* * *

 _Twilight... I'm sorry... Twilight..._

Casey slowly opened his eyes as he began to stand up, but he was still weakened from his (now former) master's attack.

Once he was able to stand on all fours, the Earth Pony's muzzle almost dropped to the ground at the sight in was in front of him.

 _"I'm back in Ponyville?"_ Casey wondered, surprised. _"But, what happened to-"_

 _"Are you okay?"_

Casey turned around, and saw somepony that instantly made him feel better... and that somepony was Twilight Sparkle. "It's _you_!"

"Um, yes, but - _oof!"_ Twilight stopped speaking after Casey suddenly gave her a hug.

"I'm so glad you're safe..." He said, starting to feel a whole lot better than he was a few minutes ago.

However, the Princess of Friendship now felt confused. "Er, thanks...?"

Casey then released her from his hug, and said, "Okay, um... I know that you want an explanation..."

Twilight, still feeling confused, simply nodded her head. "Yeah, that would definitely be useful in this situation."

"And I know you're probably going to hate me..." said Casey, who was ready to accept anything that she had to say to him.

"Well, not unless I have a reason to," shrugged the magical alicorn.

Letting out a sigh, Casey continued on, knowing that he was about to ruin his chances of ever being in a relationship with her. "Well, remember when you said that we needed to get to know each other better?"

Twilight then started to frown. "I never said that."

"The reason why I brought that up was because I..." Casey suddenly paused mid-sentence after realizing what Twilight had just said. "You didn't... what?"

Twilight shook her head, and replied, "It sounds like you're implying that I agreed to be in a relationship with you... which I never did."

Before he could give a response, Twilight added, "And, we've never even met."

So, now, Casey was the pony that became confused. "Yeah, we did... back at the train station in the Crystal Empire, remember?"

Twilight shook her head, raising an eyebrow. "You sure you aren't mistaking me for somepony else?"

"No, why would I..." began Casey, but he stopped after noticing a necklace around her neck. "When did you get that?"

Twilight looked at the special gift she had received from her _special somepony_ , and she started to smile.

"I've had this for quite some time now... why?"

Before Casey could answer, he heard another voice from a pony that was approaching them.

" _Phew!_ Sorry, love, I was busy fixing the mess that Pinkie made at the... oh, who's this?"

Standing next to Twilight was a somewhat gold-colored Earth Pony, whose brown-colored mane was not exactly well-groomed.

In fact, it looked... well... a little messy for somepony that Casey had imagined would be dating an alicorn like Twilight.

"This is, um..." said Twilight, pausing because she did not yet know what the stranger's name was.

"Casey." He replied, but still wondering what was going on.

"Sorry... this is Casey," continued Twilight. "And he was about to tell me an interesting story."

"Oh?" The newcomer said, looking at Casey. "About what exactly?"

The Earth Pony chuckled a little, starting to feel nervous again. "Er, well... w-who are you again, sir?"

"Stardust Balance," replied the golden-colored pony, offering a hoofshake. "Nice to meet you, Casey."

"Likewise..." replied Casey, politely accepting it. "Er, nice beard and, um... mane-style... I've never seen one like that before."

Stardust gave Twilight a smug look, making the alicorn roll her eyes. "See? I don't _always_ have to keep it a certain way."

"Oh, sure," replied Twilight. "Just because Rarity isn't here to..."

As they continued their conversation, Casey began to look at the two of them, noticing how closethey were to each other...

He also took another look at the necklace around Twilight's neck, which was completely different from the one he was wearing.

 _A silver book? Spinning star?_ thought Casey. _If she has a beautiful necklace like that... then, that means-_

"Oh, um, and apparently I agreed to go on a date with him." Twilight said, nodding her head towards the Earth Pony.

Casey gulped, feeling afraid as he started realizing what was probably about to happen.

 _Oh, great, I'm screwed._

"Oh, is that so?" Stardust replied, glaring at Casey. "Did she mention the fact that _I'm_ her special somepony?"

"Well, no," said Casey, in a nervous tone. "But I was starting to figure that out."

"Well, you'd better start talking more, then," replied Stardust, showing a small and suspicious frown.

Casey looked around, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Hey, your answer isn't up there, friend," retorted Stardust. "Who exactly are you?"

"Um..." said Casey. "Well, the truth is that... and I'm just assuming.. I am not actually 'from' here."

Stardust raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

Casey sighed, and said, "Well, like I said, it's an assumption... and I am from Equestria... but in a different world."

"Like the one Sunset Shimmer is in?" Twilight asked, joining in on the conversation.

"Kind of, but more complex, and she's in trouble, too," replied Casey, remembering how she fit into the cloaked pony's sinister plot. "I came from what you could call an... _alternate version_ of Equestria, and where-"

Stardust suddenly interrupted, waving his hooves in the air. "Hold up a sec, how is that even possible?"

 **Did we not just return from a predicament like this, boy?**

 _"You're not helping,"_ muttered Stardust, talking to the voice of Sombra that was inside of his head.

But then, to his surprise, Casey asked, "Who was that?"

"Who was what?"

The Earth Pony looked around, as if he was trying to find somepony else. "I just heard another pony speak, right after you asked me a question."

Stardust shook his head. "No, you didn't, you only heard me."

But Casey could have sworn that he had heard somepony. "Yeah, and it even sounded familiar... like some ancient-like voice I once heard back at the Crystal Empire..."

Starlight started to gulp now. _Sombra, did he...?_

 **We've been over this plenty of times, you dimwit. Only you and that elderly annoyance can hear me.**

 _"There!"_ Casey exclaimed. "I heard it again, just now!"

 _Anything else you want to add, your Higness_ , thought Stardust, who did not know whether to be surprised or more suspicious at the possible fact of this newpony being able to hear the fallen king.

Before Sombra could respond to Stardust, however, Twilight asked, "Is everything alright, Casey? You seem afraid... and concerned."

"Um, that's pretty much true," admitted Casey. "The _other_ Equestria that I came from has a Twilight, as well, who is probably now in trouble because of me."

Before continuing on, Casey revealed to the two of them his own special necklace that was currently held by his hoof.

" _Turtledoves..."_ whispered Twilight. It even looked almost familiar to her.

"The last thing she said before giving me this was-"

 **Is that what I think it is, up there in the sky?**

Stardust looked up, and realized what Sombra had meant. "Casey, look out!"

"What are you-" said Casey, breplied is above them began sucking him in. _"Aaaauggghhh!"_

"Casey!" Twilight was about to go and help him when a strongforce sucked him into the portal, which then disappeared in a brilliant flash of light.

"Twilight?" Stardust walked over to the princess, who was blinking her eyes a few times. "You okay?"

She nodded her head, and walked over to where Casey had been standing at. "Oh, no..."

Stardust watched as Twilight picked up an object that was on the ground, and saw that it was the necklace that Casey had shown them.

"It's beautiful..." said Twilight, admiring the turtle-dove pendant.

At first, Stardust didn't know what to say, but then, he could see the gears turning inside Twilight's head, and realized what she was probably about to suggest they do.

"Oh, no, no, no, no..." Twilight looked at Stardust, who was shaking his head.

 _"Nope, nope, nope..._ I am _not_ going to have us get involved in another time-travel incident."

Twilight frowned, even though she knew what he had been referring to. "Jack, we have to do _something._ "

"No, we do not," replied Stardust, whose real name was Jack, in case you were wondering. "He'll probably come back anyway."

"And what if he doesn't?" Twilight said, glaring at him.

Stardust shook his head, not wanting them to get involved. "He has to, Twilight, so let's just-"

"Jack, come on," pleaded Twilight. "He _needs_ our help... he even mentioned Sunset being in trouble!"

Stardust tried to find another reason for them not to help. "Well, he didn't say those words _exactly-_ "

 **I would like to know exactly how in Equestria was he able to hear me.**

 _You're still not [Beep]-ing helping right now,_ thought Stardust

But Twilight wasn't giving up. "What would _you_ have done if you were in his situation?"

Stardust chuckled. "Well, first of all, I wouldn't have mistaken another Twilight for you-"

 _"Jack..."_ she said, now giving him an annoyed look.

 **And this is the part where you end up agreeing with her.**

Not even bothering to respond to the former ruler of the Crystal Empire, Stardust looked at Twilight, and said, "Well, what exactly _can_ we do?"

Twilight looked at the necklace in her hoof, and up at the sky where the portal had been.

"I don't know yet..." admitted the princess. ""But... I have a bad feeling that something terribly wrong is happening right now."


	7. Time Travel, Part 2

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 7 - Time Travel, Part 2_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro._

 _Also, "The Powerpuff Girls" is owned by Cartoon Network._

* * *

When Twilight opened her eyes, she tried to remember the last thing that had happened.

 _[Crash!]_

 _Pinkie Pie's eyes rolled around in circles, but after shaking her head a few times, they went back to normal._

 _"Well, that was something new," said Pinkie. "Now, then... oh, hello there!"_

 _..._

 _"Why are you doing that? I'm not Pac-Man."_

 _..._

 _"Um, I can see you, ya know!"_

 _The narrator sighed, and said, "Yes, I know you can, Pinkie... what are you doing here?"_

 _"What do you mean?" asked the pink unicorn. "You brought me here."_

 _"No, I didn't," replied the narrator. "The cloaked pony did."_

 _Pinkie Pie gave a shrug, and said, "Well, somepony did, and now I'm here."_

 _"Then, I hate to disappoint you, Pinkie, but you can't be in here right now."_

 _The party-planning pony continued to ask questions. "Why not?"_

 _"Because that's not how the story goes, okay? Just leave, please..."_

 _Pinkie Pie let out a sigh, and said, "Fine, I'll go... um... ooh, that place looks fun!"_

 _[Whoosh!]_

 _"Well, glad that's over," said the narrator. "Last thing I need is to have Pinkie Pie in some place she doesn't belong..."_

 _"What do you mean?" said Pinkie Pie._

 _"Gaaah! What the - how'd you get back in here?"_

 _Pinkie Pie tilted her head. "I wasn't here before... I was helping Stardust and Starlight and Discord and-"_

 _"Get back to wherever the hooded pony sent you NOW!"_

 _Pinkie Pie was silent, for a moment, before she said, "Okie dokie lokie!"_

 _[Whoosh!]_

 _The narrator sighed, and said, "_ _ **Finally...**_ _now to get back to Twilight."_

 _However, before he continued the rest of the story, he failed to notice a slight difference between the two times that Pinkie Pie had appeared.._

* * *

And the last thing that Twilight remembered was-

"Twilight?"

The alicorn stood up on all fours, and opened her eyes to see another familiar pony in front of her.

" _Sunset_?"

The former student of Princess Celestia gave her a warm smile, and said, "Nice to see you too, Twi - _oof!"_

Her sentence was cut off after Twilight gave her a tight hug. "I was so worried... I thought something _terrible_ happened to you."

"Well, I mean, I'm still breathing, thank goodness," replied Sunset, trying to be a little comedic.

Twilight chuckled, and said, "I can see that, thanks..."

But then, her expression went from joy to sadness. "My friends were turned to stone by some cloaked pony that I've never even met."

Sunset nodded her head. "Yeah, he mentioned doing something like that before he used his staff to send me... wherever the heck we are."

Twilight looked around, and didn't feel too sure herself about their current location.

"Neither do-"

 ***gasp*** _"Oh, my gosh, more talking ponies!"_

Sunset looked at Twilight, and asked, "Why are you talking like Pinkie Pie?"

"Huh?" Twilight said, looking at her friend like she was crazy. "I didn't even finish talking."

"Well, then who was-" started Sunset, but then, there was a trio of _"whoosh"_ sounds.

 _"Wow, Bubbles, you were right!"_ The voice belonged to a small girl, who was wearing a pink dress with a black stripe, as well as a small red bow in her hair.

 _"You see? They're so pretty and colorful!"_ cried the young girl who was floating in the air next to her.

She had on a similar dress, but her color was blue instead of pink, and her yellow hair was tied up in two pigtails... and, for some reason, she sounded similar to Twilight, but at a higher speaking pitch.

 _"Well, then let's make sure that_ _these two_ _don't escape from us this time,"_ replied the green-dress-wearing little girl.

Sunset gulped, and asked, "Um... any ideas so far, Twilight?"

The alicorn shook her head, yelling, _"Run!"_

 _Whoosh!_

As they took off, Blossom had a look of determination on her face. "Alright, girls, guess we're going to do this the hard way."

 _Whoosh!_

"Hey, wait for us!" yelled Buttercup, as she raced after her sister.

 _Whoosh!_

"Ooh, ooh, I call the purple one with wings!" exclaimed an excited Bubbles, before joining her sisters in chasing the talking ponies.

* * *

Inside the Crystal Castle, the young dragon was still searching for his friends.

"Twilight? Pinkie?" He cried. "I'm sorry I ate the rest of the cotton candy I brought, but I can get mo - _whoa!"_

He stopped in front of a door that he didn't remember ever seeing before.

"Wow," admired Spike. "It looks a lot like Twilight's Cutie Mark..."

He also noticed the surrounding carvings of the Cutie Marks that belonged to the rest of the Mane Six.

"Twilight!" Spike called out, knocking on the door. "Are you in there?"

Suddenly, Twilight's Cutie Mark started to light up, and Spike stepped back while the doors began to open sideways.

"Twilight...?" Spike carefully entered the room, looking for any sign of-

 ***gasp***

The little dragon couldn't believe his eyes.

"Spike?"

Before going in, however, Spike turned to see Princess Cadence.

"Oh, hi, your Highness," greeted Spike. "Where's Flurry Heart?"

Cadence smirked at the young reptile. "She's with Shining Armor... but may I ask why you're in this room?"

Spike chuckled nervously, and said, "Well, um, I was looking for Twilight and the others, but then I saw this cool-looking door and-"

Before he could finish, however, Cadence entered the room herself. "Huh..."

"I didn't touch anything!" Spike cried.

The princess laughed, and shook her head. "No, Spike, I'm just surprised that the statues were already done."

Spike went after her, and took a closer look at the five statues of his friends.

To Cadence's amusement, his eyes turned into hearts as he walked over to the one that looked like Rarity.

"Whoever built this was full of talent," said the lovestruck dragon. "They even got her eyes and mane-style right."

Cadence shook her head. "Alright, come on, Romeo, your friends are probably back outside... wouldn't want to damage that perfection, would you?"

"Oh, no, m'am," replied Spike. "I'd hate to think what would happen if Rarity ever found that out!"

He walked away from the statue, and followed Cadence out of the room, with the princess closing the door.

 _"Well, well, well,"_ chuckled the cloaked pony, floating down from the ceiling. _"This might be easier than I thought."_

* * *

For some reason that she didn't really care about, Pinkie Pie had found herself running across a grassy field.

 _Huh, I wonder if Stardust_ \- began Pinkie, but then, she heard a familiar voice.

 _ **Come on, and smile, smile, smile...**_

 _Ooh, I wonder who MisterDavey and Dave Davey are?_

 _ **Come on, and smile, smile, smile...**_

Pinkie Pie had a confused look on her face. _Why is my voice singing that faster than usual? And who is Foo - oh, my gosh!_

She looked in front of her, and saw three of her friends having a picnic by a nice-looking tree.

 _"Hi, Twilight!"_ Pinkie Pie yelled, waving her arm in the air.

She saw her friend look up from the book that she'd been reading, and happily waved back at her.

Then, when she finally caught up to Twilight, Pinkie Pie stopped running.

"What's up?" greeted the cheerful pony.

"Hey, Pinkie," said Twilight, smiling up at her. "For a minute there, I didn't think you would stop."

Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes, and said, "Well, _duh_ , if I didn't, then something bad would have probably happened."

* * *

Rainbow Dash felt like she had been in a tornado, trainwreck, and thunderstorm all rolled up into one.

 _I seriously need to stop eating that much at parties._

But before Rainbow could do anything else, she heard a familiar voice.

 _"Soooo, are we making cupcakes or not?"_

The winged pony saw that she was inside a kitchen, with all kinds of mixing stuff in front of her, and next to her was-

"Pinkie Pie? You're okay!"

The pink pony replied, "Um, _duh,_ why wouldn't I be? It's just cupcake baking."

"But you... we... Twilight..." said Rainbow, trying to remember what had happened earlier. "Um... shouldn't we go find the others?"

Pinkie Pie thought about it for a moment, and said, "Okie dokie loki!"

Rainbow chuckled, and began to walk out of the door. "Alright, let's go..."

Pinkie looked at the mallet nearby, simply gave a shrug, and followed Rainbow out of the door.

* * *

 **Aut** **hor's Note:** _I apologize if anyone is annoyed by the amount of multiple Pinkie Pie's._


	8. Help from Respect

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 8 - Help from Respect  
_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro._

 _Also, to give a quick recap, Casey_ _was_ _in an alternate version of Equestria, while Pinkie Pie was sent to the world of "Smile HD", and Rainbow was sent to "Cupcakes"._

 _Don't worry... they already changed what was supposed to happen._

 _As for Twilight and Sunset Shimmer, they ended up in the "Powerpuff Girls" world._

 _So, now, we're going to see what happened to Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity._

 _And for those wondering if Stardust is going to come back... well... you'll have to wait and see ;)_

* * *

"Sweet Celestia," moaned a dizzy Rarity. "I haven't felt this terrible since Starlight did that spell on us."

Applejack nodded in agreement, as she rubbed her eyes with her hands. "You're telling me, sugarcube... now, um, where are we exactly?"

As she started to stand up, Rarity stretched her arms out while letting out a yawn, but when she opened her eyes, she saw something that made them grow wide.

"Um... Applejack?" Rarity said. "You might want to turn around and see this."

Applejack rolled her eyes, and said, "The last time we heard that, Rare, we... uh..."

They were in front of a large building that had a sign above titled "Canterlot High", and standing in front of them were _human_ versions of their friends: Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and even themselves.

There was even a human version of Twilight, except she was wearing glasses, and had a different hairstyle.

"Um... howdy, everypony," said Applejack, waving her ho - hand.

"This must be where Sunset Shimmer stays," gasped Rarity, as she began connecting the dots in her mind. "And where Twilight goes every time she steps into that mirror portal."

None of the others said anything to Rarity or Applejack... until Pinkie Pie asked, "So, are you two like the other Twilight that lives in a magical world called Equestria, where you all represent a magical element, and are also actually talking ponies?"

Applejack didn't know what to think about that. "Uh... yeah...?"

"Wow, that's _amazing_!" Pinkie Pie cried, her face lighting up brightly with a smile. "And you two were probably sent here by some cloaked pony that's actually an alternate version of a pony that used to be dating Twilight, but now he's been taken over by the spirit of a king named-"

" _Oh, my gosh, your dress is_ _ **gorgeous**_ _!"_ yelled the human version of Rarity, interrupting her friend as she walked up to her "pony" counterpart.

"Well, um... thank you, darling," replied the pony-turned-human Rarity. "It _does_ have a certain _charm_ , doesn't it?"

Applejack walked up to her human self, and said, "So... you're supposed to be me?"

"Yep," replied Human Applejack. "And _you're_ actually a pony, like Princess Twilight?"

Applejack nodded her head, but she still felt confused. _Why would that evil pony send us here?_

* * *

"Any luck finding them?" Blossom asked, as she floated by a dumpster in an alley.

"Nah, they got away again," growled Buttercup, crossing her arms.

They saw Bubbles fly towards them, and she looked like she was ready to break down and cry.

 _"Why can't we have a talking pony?"_ She cried, her eyes filling up with tears.

Blossom sighed, but she wasn't ready yet to throw in the towel. "I know they're still here, I can feel it... so let's keep looking."

 _Whoosh!_

"Can we get out now?" whispered Sunset, who was using her magic to surround herself in an energy bubble that blocked the dumpster's terrible smell.

Twilight, who was doing the same thing, shook her head. "Not just yet... I can still hear some-"

 _Bang!_ "Twilight?"

The purple alicorn gasped in shock, and opened up the dumpster, seeing the pony that had said her name.

 _"Fluttershy! You're okay!"_

"Um... yeah..." replied Fluttershy. "But, uh, where exactly - _oof_!"

Twilight came out of the dumpster to give her friend a hug, and she sighed happily. "I'm so glad you're safe."

The animal-caring Pegasus smiled, and said, "It's good to see you, too."

"Oh, hey, Fluttershy," greeted Sunset Shimmer, as she also got out of the dumpster. "Long time, no see."

Fluttershy looked at the yellow unicorn, and then, at Twilight. "Um... is she a _good_ pony or a _bad_ pony?"

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked.

"Well, the last time I saw her as a pony, she was trying to take your crown for her own evil and selfish reasons," replied Fluttershy, but then, she looked at Sunset. "Um... no offense..."

Sunset rolled her eyes, but had a smirk on her face as she replied, "None taken... but it's okay, Fluttershy, I'm in the same problem as you and everypony else."

Fluttershy let out a gasp, and asked, "So, you were turned into stone, too?"

Sunset looked over at Twilight, who explained, "The cloaked pony used his staff to turn Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy into statues, while he just used it on you, me, and Casey to... well, we ended up here, but I have no idea where he could be at."

Before Sunset could ask who "Casey" was, Fluttershy let out a gulp, and said, "Um... I think we might have something else to worry about!"

 ***gasp*** _"There's another talking pony! With wings!"_

Fluttershy looked over at Twilight, and asked, "Why does she have a voice like yours?"

"Ugh, we don't have the same voice," exclaimed the alicorn princess.

Just then, they heard Buttercup cry out, "All right, enough for all of us! Let's get them quick before they disappear!"

Bubbles squealed with delight. _"I still want the purple one!"_

* * *

When Spike and Cadence came out of the castle, they were surprised to find ponies waiting for them.

"Was she in there?" asked Starlight, looking concerned.

"No, why?" replied Cadence. "Didn't you see her out here?"

Shining Armor shook his head, while Sunburst said, "We haven't seen them ever since they followed Casey inside almost an hour ago."

 _"Oh, don't worry, Starlight Glimmer..."_

As the sky became dark, all of the Crystal Ponies started to look worried, while Starlight asked, "Who said that?"

Then, an explosion appeared in front of the castle's entrance, sending Starlight, Sunburst, Cadence, Shining Armor, Spike, and Flurry Heart back into the city square.

 _"You'll reunite with them in the afterlife,"_ laughed the hooded pony, who had appeared after the smoke from the explosion had gone away.

Shining Armor frowned, and asked, "What did you do to my sister and her friends?"

The hooded pony replied, "Twilight is _gone_... as well Casey and the rest of her friends, with five of them now permanently turned into statues."

"Turned into... oh, no," gasped Spike, speaking in a hushed tone. "That means that... Rarity..."

 _"Now, then, to make this upcoming battle fair..."_ said the sinister pony, who rose up into the air, and used his silver staff to trap the six of them in a force-field energy bubble.

He then looked at the statue of Spike, surrounded by all of the Crystal Ponies. _"That will do just nicely!"_

 _Wham!_

The hooded pony shot an energy beam at the statue, which started glowing brightly at a rapid pace, and then, it exploded into a large ball of smoke, which started to expand and cover all of the ponies that were surrounding it.

" _NO!"_ yelled Shining and Cadence, as they helplessly watched everypony become engulfed in the smoke.

Then, once the ball disappeared, the hooded pony landed back on top of the castle steps. _"A much-needed improvement."_

Cadence was horrified. "Shining... they're all... all..."

"He turned them into ice statues," finished Shining, who was equally terrified.

All of the Crystal Ponies were now completely frozen, from top to bottom, and after the hooded pony made the energy bubble disappear, he said, _"Trust me, your Highness, it's better for them this way."_

Shining Armor gritted his teeth, and yelled, " _Where is my sister?!"_

The hooded pony chuckled, and replied, _"She's in a better place... you'll never see her again!"  
_

That did it for the ruler of the Crystal Empire, who began charging towards the hooded pony, activating his magic to-

 _"Oh, I don't think so!"_

 _WHAM!_

He shot several energy blasts at all four of Shining Armor's hooves, trapping them in ice so that he couldn't move any further.

"Shining!" yelled Cadence, who was about to run towards her husband when the hooded pony shot a larger energy blast that was heading straight towards her!

" _Cadence!"_ Shining Armor then tried to free his hooves from the ice, but they were stuck to the ground.

However, just when it was about to make contact with the Princess of Love, another energy blast made connection with it, causing a small explosion... with Cadence thankfully unharmed.

 _"What the hell?"_ yelled the hooded pony, now becoming angry.

 _"No one messes with my family,"_ said an angry Starlight, who had removed her "invisible spell", and was now in front of Cadence.

The hooded pony grinned, and said, "Well, well, well... looks like I underestimated the 'pupil' of friendship."

"You sure aren't the second pony to do that," said Starlight, who also had her own magic prepared.

As for Sunburst, he was starting to look at his childhood friend in a whole different way. _"Wow..."_

* * *

 ** _Meanwhile_**

" _Wow, these statues are amazing!"_

 _"I know! They even got my sister's hat right!"_

After Spike and Cadence had left the room, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle had ran as fast as they could into the room before the doors closed.

"Too bad Scootaloo couldn't come," said Rarity's little sister, looking at the statue of Rainbow Dash. "She would've loved seeing this."

Applebloom nodded her head, but then, she started looking around.

"What's wrong?" asked Sweetie Belle.

The little Earth Pony said, "Well, I'm just tryin' to figure out whey they don't got a statue or mural of Twilight... all I see is this here symbol that we're standing on."

Before Sweetie Belle could give her fellow Cutie Mark Crusader an answer, they heard a strange noise.

"What's that rumbling sound?" wondered Applebloom.

Her best friend gave her a shrug, and said, "It probably came from outside."

 _That is correct._

Applebloom gulped, and asked, "Uh... w-who was that?"

 _Someone who is kind, young one. But there isn't much time. Your sister needs my help._

She looked at the Applejack statue, and said, "She's in trouble?"

 _They all are, including Twilight and Casey._

Sweetie Belle gasped, while looking at her sister's statue, and was slowly starting to cry.

 _I know how you're feeling right now, but I promise that everything will be alright. You two must stay in this room, no matter what, until I return with the others._

Applebloom asked, "What's going on, Mr. Kind Voice?"

 _As I said, there is not much time that I have here... I must find the others... just promise that you'll both stay here._

The two little ponies looked at each other, and they nodded their heads.

 _Thank you... but one last thing. Please do not break any part of the statues._

"What would happen if we did?"

Applebloom glared at Sweetie Belle.

"What? I'm not saying that we will, but accidents happen."

 _I will answer that when I return, young one... just stay in this room, both of you... no matter what._


	9. Rounding Everypony Up

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 9 - Rounding Everypony Up_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro._

* * *

" _How do we keep losing them?!"_ Buttercup cried, irritated with the fact that the talking ponies had vanished yet again.

Bubbles was sitting on the ground, tears coming out of her eyes. _"I just want a pretty pony to call Antoinette!"_

As for the ponies themselves, Twilight had used an invisible spell on the three of them, and their hiding spot was on one of the clouds in the sky.

"How long do we have to stay here?" wondered Starlight, who was using her magic to remain on the cloud since she didn't have wings.

Twilight sighed sadly, and said, "I don't know... I wish we had that scroll me and Spike used while we did that whole time-travel loop fiasco with Starlight."

 _That might not be the best idea in this sort of situation._

Twilight gasped, and said, "Oh my gosh, there's somepony speaking in my head!"

 _Relax, dear child, I come in peace._

"What's it saying?" asked Fluttershy, feeling concerned for her.

Before she could answer, the voice began to say something important.

 _Twilight, please listen closely because we do not have much time. The Crystal Empire and all of Equestria is in danger._

 _Is it because of the hooded pony?_ Twilight asked, speaking with her thoughts.

 _Yes, and you must find the rest of your friends quickly if you have any hope in stopping him before it's too late._

Twilight gulped. _But how am I supposed to do that? I don't even know how to-_

 _"Howdy, Twilight!"_ said Pinkie Pie, who suddenly appeared next to the alicorn.

 _I believe that answers everything, Twilight... now, hurry, your pupil is in danger._

And with that, the voice was gone, leaving Twilight to look at Pinkie with a confused look. "How did you get here?"

Before Pinkie Pie could answer, they heard a voice cry out, _"Girls, look, it's a talking stallion!"_

Twilight gasped as she realized who it was. " _Casey!"_

She began to fly back down to the city, with the others close behind her

Once they were all on the ground, Twilight saw that he was cornered against a wall by the three super-powered girls.

"Alright, just be a good pony," said Blossom. "No need to run..."

Casey gulped, and replied, "Look, this isn't the best time to - Twilight?"

The three girls turned around, seeing the other ponies, but before they could say anything, Twilight quickly used her magic to encase them all in a giant block of purple ice.

"Casey!" She ran over to her friend, giving her a hug. "I was so worried about you!"

He was about to speak when Pinkie Pie said, "Um, ponies? You might want to take a look at this!"

Twilight and Casey looked up, and saw that an electric-energy portal was appearing in the sky.

"What is that supposed to - _whoa!_ " Twilight then felt herself being sucked into the portal. _"Aaaauughhh!"_

Then, once she had entered, the other ponies followed soon after, but before Pinkie Pie entered, she waved at the three Powerpuff Girls. "Catch ya later!"

 _ZAP! WHOOSH!_

After they were gone, Buttercup looked at Blossom, and asked, "What now, genius?"

* * *

While Sunburst, Spike, and Cadence were trying to help Shining break free from the ice covering his hooves, Starlight was using her magic to fight the hooded pony.

"Tell me where you sent Twilight and the others!" yelled Starlight, dodging one of his energy blasts.

 _"It doesn't matter anymore,"_ laughed the hooded pony. _"There's no chance they can ever return now!"_

Starlight groaned, and exclaimed, "Then I'll just beat the answer out of you!"

 _"Oh, I would_ _love_ _to see you try!"_

Down below, Sunburst was in complete awe and wonder while watching her fight. "She looks so beautiful up there..."

 **Bzzzzzzzttt!**

 _"Better be careful, my dear_ ," said the hooded pony. " _You wouldn't want to tire out so soon, would you?_ "

Starlight laughed, and said, "Please, I was just getting started... and wait until Discord shows up to-"

 _"I think it's a little too late for that,"_ replied the sinister pony, who paused their fight momentarily to create a mirror portal, showing them what had happened to the Master of Chaos. " _I prefer him as a statue, anyway."_

"But... he can only be turned to stone if somepony is using the Elements of Harmony," said Spike. "And the last time they were used was to-"

 _"Yes, I am aware of what happened with the Tree of Harmony,"_ the hooded pony replied. _"But I never said that I used_ _ **this**_ _world's elements."_

 _"What do you mean **this** world?"_ Starlight asked.

* * *

Twilight opened her eyes, and blinked a few times before saying, "Where are we now?"

The five ponies stood up, and began to look around, with Casey saying, "It looks like Ponyville, but... empty..."

"Well, then..." Twilight used her magic to encase Casey in a force field bubble. "You have some explaining to do, mister."

"What did I do?" said Casey, even though he probably knew what the answer was.

As Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Sunset stepped back a little, Twilight moved more upwards to him. "What connection do you have with that hooded pony?"

Casey gulped, and he thought, _Well, at least I'm talking to_ _ **my**_ _Twilight now._

 _"I'm waiting,"_ replied Twilight, who was starting to frown.

Casey sighed, and said, "Okay, the truth is... I _used_ to be his slave, and my final task for him included you and the others getting trapped into that room-"

 _"Which you_ _ **were**_ _able to do,"_ said an angered Twilight.

"But then I realized that I was going to lose the greatest friends that I could have ever asked for," continued Casey.

"So, I tried to save you all by trying to get you to change your mind about going in-"

"By asking about Spike and Starlight," finished Twilight, remembering when he had done that. "Well, why were you his slave for... however long you were?"

The Earth Pony said, "It was so that Sunburst wouldn't get hurt or killed by him... but now I think he's gonna hurt him _and_ your pupil, as well!"

"You mean Starlight, right?"

Twilight rolled her eyes at Pinkie's statement, and said, "Well, do you know anything about these portals, then?"

Before Casey could say anything to her, Pinkie Pie said, "Because the natural order of balance and time and space is trying to restore itself, meaning that life is trying to restore everything back to the way it was, and once we're all together - oh, hiya, Sunset! - we'll all be sent back to Ponyville, where we have to step up against that evil cloaked pony who is _actually-_ "

 _"Incoming!"_

A winged pony suddenly crashed into Casey, knocking both of them to the ground.

" _Rainbow Dash!?"_ yelled everypony, except for Casey.

"Oops, sorry about that," apologized Rainbow, who started helping Casey stand up.

The Earth Pony shook his head a few times, and said, "That's okay, no harm done... how did _you_ get here?"

 ***sigh*** "I _said_ that the natural order of life is trying to-"

"Not the best time, Pinkie," said Twilight, as she went over to her friend. "You okay?"

Before Rainbow answered, she looked over at Pinkie Pie curiously. "Umm... is that _our_ Pinkie Pie, or another copy of her?"

"Why do you ask?" Casey wondered.

"Because the place I was at earlier had a Pinkie Pie that had no idea what I was talking about," explained Rainbow. "All she wanted to was bake cupcakes, for some reason..."

Everypony looked at Pinkie Pie, who groaned, and said, "I don't have to watch paint dry again, do I?"

Before Twilight could answer, Casey said, "I don't think she's a copy."

"How do _you_ know?" asked Rainbow, crossing her hooves as she floated in the air. "For all we know, _our_ Pinkie Pie could be in some kind of world that-"

"Okay, enough, I'm settling this," said Twilight, who walked over to the pink pony. "Tell me everything that happened from the day we first met, up until today."

 _"Seriously?"_ Rainbow exclaimed. "We don't have time for that!"

Twilight frowned, and looked at her friend. "Because, to me, the _real_ Pinkie Pie would remember everything _exactly_ , without missing a beat."

Rainbow tried to say something else, but Twilight added, "Do you have a better idea?"

"I... uh..." Rainbow sighed, and said, "No, I guess not."

Pinkie Pie gulped as Twilight then turned to look at her. "Proceed."

As the pink unicorn started to explain, Casey saw Rainbow Dash start to lie down. "Uh, what are you doing?"

"Trust me, new guy," said the Pegasus pony. "This is gonna take a while."

* * *

 _Several Hours Later..._

"... so the next thing I know, I'm in some place that's called _Smile HD_ , and I was enjoying a picnic with a pony that looked just like you, except she didn't have any wings.

"Then, a portal thingy appeared in the sky, which brought me over to that place we were at a while ago with the Powerpuff Girls. And after we found Casey, _another portal_ brought us here, and then Rainbow Dash came, crashing into Casey, then she wondered if I was a clone..."

As Pinkie Pie finished her story, Casey looked over at Rainbow Dash, who was fast asleep.

"... so then you asked me to say everything that happened ever since the day I first saw you and Spike in Ponyville, which is when I-"

 _"No!"_ yelled Rainbow Dash, who suddenly woke up. " _Don't say it again! I believe you!"_

Twilight smiled, and nodded her head confidently. "Glad to have you back, Pinkie."

"No problem," said Pinkie, giving her friend a smile.

Sunset Shimmer then yawned, and said, "Well, now that we've figured _that_ out, how do we get to Applejack and Rarity?"

Everypony looked at Pinkie Pie again. "What? I don't know where they are... but if I _did,_ then I guess that explains that sparkly mirror over there!"

They all looked in the direction that Pinkie was pointing at, and Twilight asked, "Wha - when did _that_ appear?"

Pinkie Pie giggled, and said, "Almost around the time when I was telling you about how-"

 _"Pinkie, it's fine, please,"_ cried Rainbow.

So, the group of ponies started walking over to the mirror, but stopped after seeing two familiar ponies fall out and land onto the ground, with the mirror then suddenly disappearing.

"Well, that's convenient," said Sunset, a smirk on her face.

Pinkie Pie replied, "See? It's like I said about life and balance and time and space trying to be restored to-"

 _"Alright, we get it! You're not a clone!"_


	10. Far from Over

**My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic**

Chapter 10 - Far from Over

 _Author's Note - "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" is owned by DHX Media and Hasbro._

* * *

A few minutes after the Mane Six, Sunset, and Casey had all explained what everypony had went through, one of them only had one thing to ask next.

"So, um... any ideas on how we're supposed to get back home, Twi?" Applejack asked.

The alicorn princess sighed, and she shook her head. "I wish I did, but I don't just yet."

Everypony looked at Pinkie Pie, who became confused. "What? I don't know how."

Twilight turned to Casey, a pleading expression on her face. "Your master must have said something about his plan that could help us."

But the Earth Pony shook his head, as well, and looked disappointed. "I'm sorry, Twilight, but... I don't either."

Rainbow Dash frowned at Casey, and said, "This is all _your_ fault anyway! You took us to that room - you even lost your necklace that Twilight gave you!"

"I did not - _what?!_ " Casey looked at where his necklace was supposed to be, but it wasn't. "B-but I was just looking at it not that long ago!"

"When did you last remember seeing it?" Twilight asked, who was actually (for the moment) just grateful that he was safe.

"I was showing it to Stardust and..." Casey then stopped, realizing where the necklace was. "It must've fallen off before I got sucked away."

"Who's Stardust?" Twilight asked.

Casey was about to explain when-

"He's a golden-colored pony that's actually from a planet called Earth, but-"

"Um, Pinkie, mind saving that explanation for later?" said Casey, who also didn't want her to end up saying that Stardust was also Twilight's _special somepony_.

"Okie dokie loki!" Pinkie Pie said, nodding her head.

Twilight simply sighed, and said, "Maybe if me, Rarity, and Sunset all-"

" _Ooh, ooh, I know_!" replied Pinkie Pie, raising her hoof in the air. "What if somepony that was in the room just broke one of the statues?"

To everyone's surprise, both Twilight _and_ Rarity gasped in shock.

"That is the _last_ thing that needs to happen!" said the alicorn princess.

"Quite right, darling," agreed Rarity, nodding her head. "I wouldn't want to see such beauty be turned into a pile of rubble."

Applejack shook her head, and said, "Uh, Rarity, you do know that those statues are _us_ , right?"

"Exactly," said Twilight, nodding. "If, for example, Flutter - I mean, Rainbow's statue broke, she might end up... well..."

Rainbow gulped, and said, "Uh, I think I get the picture, Twilight..."

Pinkie Pie simply gave a shrug. "You wanted an idea."

* * *

As their fight continued, the cloaked pony let out a laugh. "You truly are impressive, Starlight Glimmer."

Dodging one of his staff's energy blasts, Starlight replied, "Thanks... but flattery will get you nowhere in this fight."

She aimed a streak of blasts at his hood, hoping to figure out who this pony was, but he simply spun his staff around in a circle, knocking them away.

"Please tell me that you have more than that."

Starlight gave him a grin, and said, "Oh, don't worry, there's a lot more!"

Then, suddenly, a copy of herself appeared next to her, and before the cloaked pony could even respond, multiple copies started to show up.

"Um, shouldn't we help her or something?" asked Spike, who was watching from below.

Shining Armor shook his head. "Not just yet... she's been doing well on her own so far... but I need you to go and watch over the... statues of Twilight's friends... maybe you can find a way for all of them... and Twily... to come back."

He then turned to look at his wife, and said, "Cadence, I need you to go into the castle, and keep Flurry Heart safe."

Luckily, their baby alicorn was asleep, but Cadence wasn't sure about leaving her husband's side. "I don't want anything worse to happen to you."

"I'll be fine," assured Shining. "Go on, while he's distracted... go..."

Cadence wanted to try and find a reason for her to stay, but Shining looked in her eyes, and said, "Please... I'll be fine..."

The Princess of Love nodded her head, giving him a kiss before she carried the sleeping toddler on her back, and ran into the castle.

"But what about-"

Twilight's brother gave the dragon a serious look, and said, "Spike, you have to trust me on this... do it for Twilight."

Spike looked back up at Starlight fighting against the cloaked pony, then at Shining, who nodded his head. "Go."

The dragon sighed, and reluctantly nodded as he, too, went into the castle, heading to the "special room"

 _"Such a shame that your teacher won't be able to witness this moment of me destroying you."_

Then, the cloaked pony twirled his energized staff around a few times, and like using a sword, he began slicing at all of the Starlight copies, one by one.

"He's moving so fast!" said Sunburst, now starting to feel worried for her. "Starlight doesn't even have time to attack!"

The ruler of the Crystal Empire could only sigh in a sad tone. "This can't be good..."

 _"There you are,"_ said the cloaked pony, once the real Starlight was in front of him. _"Now it's time to finish you off once and for - aaauughh!"_

An energy blast from below came straight towards him, and it sent him flying back a few feet, while Starlight looked down to see Sunburst, who had a bold expression on his face.

"Looks like you could some help."

Starlight smiled, and said, "Thanks..."

* * *

Inside of the "special" room, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle had fallen asleep, and were both lying down on their sister's statue.

 _Whoosh!_

Suddenly, the doors opened, and Spike came running inside, saying, "Okay, now I just need to... _Sweetie Belle_?"

" _Aaaagghhh!"_ The little pony cried, waking up surprised... and after falling down to the ground, her sister's statue was starting to tilt over.

" _No!"_ cried Spike, running towards the statue so that he could stop-

 _Crash!_

Applebloom and Spike were both speechless, while Sweetie Belle said, "Oops."

* * *

After another hour of thinking about various plans, everypony came to an agreement on one of them.

"Ready?" Twilight asked, looking at Sunset and Rarity.

"Let's do this," replied Sunset, nodding her head.

As for Rarity, she was about to agree until Applejack cried, "Holy apples, Rarity, you're lighting up!"

"What do you mea - _dear Celestia_!" She yelled, noticing that her friend was right. Her entire body was glowing in a bright white light.

As everypony tried to shield their eyes from the brightness, Casey asked, "Pinkie! What's going on?"

"Why are you asking me?" Pinkie replied. "I don't know why she's glowing!"

* * *

Back in the Crystal Empire, Starlight and Sunburst were continuing their fight against the hooded pony, but they all stopped after seeing a bright light from the corner of her eyes.

"That must be where Spike is at," said Shining, turning his head to look up at the castle.

When the hooded pony heard that, his temper immediately began to grow higher than it was before. _"That's impossible... she can't come back!"_

Starlight let out a gasp, and cried, "Twilight!"

The evil pony watched as the purple unicorn began to head towards the window, and he started gritting his teeth together. _Not on my watch, you foolish pony!_

Sunburst watched as the cloaked pony began to use his staff to charge up a very powerful energy blast that - _"Starlight, look out!"_

 _Boom!_

"Sunburst...?" She turned around, and saw her childhood friend fly in front of her, which caused the blast to strike him instead. _"No!"_

The light-orange unicorn began falling back down to the ground, landing on the castle steps, and before turning unconscious, he muttered, _"S-Starlight..."_

 _"A noble sacrifice, I will give him that,"_ said the villainous animal. _"But that won't stop me from-"_

Before he could finish, an angered Starlight interrupted him by shooting a very powerful blast that struck him directly.

 _Boom!_

As the smoke cleared, Starlight noticed that a small part of his hood had burned away, and she was able to see some of his muzzle and eyes, which were blue-green.

 _"You've been holding back, haven't you?"_ The villainous pony asked, who was still frowning.

Starlight nodded her head, a smirk appearing on her face. "And things just got a whole lot worse for you..."


	11. Only One

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 11 - Only One_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro._

* * *

 _"I'm the worst little sister ever!"_ yelled an upset Sweetie Belle.

She was lying next to the spot that Rarity's statue had fallen to, except it was now broken into several pieces.

Applebloom walked over to her friend, and said, "It'll be fine, it was just an accident. They'll understand, right, Spike?"

Not wanting to make things worse by saying that the statue had actually _been_ Rarity, the young dragon said, "Um, yeah, sure everything will-"

He stopped, however, after noticing that the stand, in which Rarity's statue had been on, was now glowing brightly.

"Um, I don't know if that's supposed to happen or not," said Spike, pointing at the glowing object.

As it grew brighter and brighter, the two ponies and little dragon started covering their eyes, with Applebloom asking, "What in the name of all apples is happening, Spike?"

" _I don't know_!" yelled Spike, closing his eyes now to avoid seeing the light.

Then, several diamonds that resembled her Cutie Mark began shooting out from inside the stand, forming a circle before spinning around at a very quick pace.

 _Whoosh!_

And once the light had turned down, they all heard a familiar voice say, "I could use a vacation after this."

" _Rarity!_ " Sweetie Belle ran over to her big sister, giving her a tight and warm hug. " _You're okay!_ "

The white unicorn smiled, and said, "Yes, Sweetie Belle, I am fine... just a little, um, light-headed from all this time traveling we've all been doing."

 _"All of us?"_ Spike looked at the rest of the statues, thinking of an idea. "So will everypony else come back if we break the rest of these?"

Before Rarity could reply, Applebloom was a little concerned. "What about Twilight, Spike? I don't see a statue of her, just that there painting of her Cutie Mark on the floor."

* * *

"Where do you think she went?" asked Fluttershy, after they had all seen Rarity disappear.

"I would like to think that she went back to the statue room" replied Twilight, but sounding unsure. "I just wish we could communicate with somepony there, or see exactly what's going on in there."

Applejack looked at the bottom of her hooves, and gulped. "Um, you might want to hurry up with that, Twi, cause I think I'm going there next."

"What do you..." Twilight stopped speaking after seeing her friend was starting to glow, as well.

Things were not turning out the way the hooded pony had planned.

* * *

 _"What does it take to stop you?!"_ He growled, while continuing to use the staff for shooting energy blasts at Starlight, and dodging the ones she aimed at him.

"Just be lucky you're not messing with me _and_ Twilight," said Starlight, a sly smirk on her face. "And you probably will once she comes out of that room."

 _"You foolish pony,"_ said the hooded pony, his eyes glowing with anger. _"Twilight Sparkle is never coming back!"_

Starlight continued to give him a smug look. "Well, we'll just see about that, then, won't we?"

Back in the statue room, once Applejack had returned, Spike asked, "Are Twilight and the others okay?"

" _Ugggghhhh_... yeah, they're fine and dandy," replied Applejack, who was feeling a little dizzy.

* * *

Soon after the Earth Pony had left, Twilight began pacing back and forth.

"Okay, there _has_ to be a way for us to know that they were sent back home."

 _I can assure you that they are both fine._

Twilight quickly stopped, recognizing the voice from earlier. _What's happening?_

The mysterious voice said, _Well, your Highness, I believe that our cloaked friend's plan did not go the way he had intended it to._

"Ooh, who's that, Twilight?"

The purple alicorn looked at her friend, and said, "You can hear him, too."

Pinkie Pie nodded her head. "That's why I asked."

 _You can speak out loud this time, my dear._

Twilight cleared her throat a few times, and said, "Um, so if breaking the statues brings them back..."

"... how would me, Sunset, and Twilight go back?" finished Casey.

"It'll be easy, right?" Pinkie Pie asked, bouncing up and down with excitement.

 _I'm afraid not. I can only create a portal for two of them, but one must stay._

Pinkie Pie paused her bounce in mid-air, and collapsed to the ground. "Oh..."

Twilight shook her head. "No, there's always another way. We could-"

"I'll stay."

The other ponies looked over at Casey, who nodded his head. "It's the only choice you have in defeating him."

"Well, that's crazy talk," argued Rainbow Dash. "You can't stay in this place all by yourself."

"I have to," replied Casey. "And it's what I deserve..."

Twilight walked over to Casey, a sad look on her face. "We know you didn't mean any of this intentionally... there has to be a way for all of us to go."

But the Earth Pony had already made his decision. "It's the _only_ way..."

Twilight looked at the rest of her friends, then back at Casey, and she wrapped her hooves around him for a hug.

* * *

After Starlight had been able to dodge another one of his attacks, the cloaked pony paused to catch his breath.

 _"It appears that we are at an impasse."_

Twilight's pupil nodded in agreement, and said, "Just until the others get back here."

The cloaked pony gritted his teeth in frustration, and yelled, _"There is no chance in hell that your teacher and the rest of her friends are coming back!"_

Before Starlight could reply back, her foe aimed his silver staff at Shining Armor. _"And you're about to join her there!"_

Shining Armor gulped, and continued trying to free his hooves from the blocks of ice, but he was only able to helplessly watch a powerful energy beam head straight to-

 _Boom!_

 _"What?!"_ shouted the enraged and cloaked pony.

At the very last second, a force field had surrounded itself around Shining, and was able to protect him from the blast.

He turned to look at Starlight, who smiled back before teleporting over to the castle steps.

 _"No..."_ The hooded pony said, his anger and frustration continuing to rise. _"This can't be happening!"_

"Oh, but it is..." said Sunset Shimmer, giving him a smug grin.

"Who's the foolish pony now, huh?" Rainbow Dash chuckled.

"You are _not_ a very nice pony," said Fluttershy, a frown on her face.

"Nopony turns us into statues, and gets away with it!" Rarity yelled, who then took a moment to remove some rubble from her mane.

"It was mighty wrong of you to do that to all of us," said Applejack, tilting her hat while giving a sly smile.

"I hope you like frosting," said Pinkie Pie, who had her Party Cannon in front of her. "Cause none of it's in here!"

Fluttershy looked at her friend. "Um, what _is_ in there, Pinkie?"

"I guess we'll find out in the next chapter," said Pinkie, giving a shrug.

The hooded pony shook his head, and growled, " _You may have all been able to escape the places I trapped you in, but your beloved Princess of Friendship has no way to-"_

 _Boom!_

Suddenly, a blast appeared from out of nowhere, and connected with his face, causing parts of his hood to rip off and show more of his muzzle.

 _"What the devil?!"_

As her horn's magical energy powered down, Twilight walked down the steps to join her friends, a smile on her face.

"You're going down, pony."

The hooded foe let out a sarcastic laugh. _"Ha, you and what army?"_


	12. Defending the Empire

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 12 - Defending the Empire_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony" is owned by DHX Media and Hasbro_

* * *

Casey sighed as he laid down on the grass. "So, O Wise One, where exactly _am_ I?"

 _Well, this is what some people would call "limbo" - nothing but complete emptiness that can be filled with your imagination._

The Earth Pony groaned, and said, "I guess I could find a way to enjoy myself since I'm practically living here."

 _No one ever said this was your permanent home, Casey._

"What do you mean?" He said, a frown on his face. "The others were able to find a way... there isn't one for me."

 _Maybe in regards to this place and my portal, yes, but as Twilight said, there is always a way..._

Casey looked at the area where his necklace would have been, and said, "I just hope she's going to be okay."

* * *

The villainous pony's frustration was continuing to grow more. _"When I am done with all of you ponies, you'll wish you'd never came back at all."_

Twilight opened her wings, preparing to take flight, and said, "We'll just see about that."

 _Whoosh!_

She took off to the skies, heading up to be face-to-face with the cloaked pony, while Spike said, "Um, wouldn't it be easier to beat him if everypony worked together."

"We'll help her out whenever Mr. Cloak decides to start fighting dirty," replied Rainbow Dash. "Twilight can hold up her own."

Spike looked at Applejack, who nodded in agreement. "If she could survive a battle against Tirek, Twi can surely take care of this pony."

Also, while Twilight was beginning her fight against the cloaked pony, Starlight had decided to take Sunburst back to his house, hoping that he had a First Aid Kit there.

 _"You never should have returned, princess,"_ said the cloaked pony. _"Now you just made things worse for your friends."_

He fired an energy beam that flew towards one of her wings, but Twilight used magic from her horn to deflect it.

"My friends mean everything to me," said Twilight, determined to put a stop to this pony's plans. "And I'll do anything to keep them safe."

Down below, Rainbow Dash was munching on some popcorn, and loving the fight between her friend and-

"Ooh, can I have some, too?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes, but she nodded her head, and replied, "Sure, Pinkie."

Back in the sky, the cloaked pony was starting to laugh. _"Is that why the noble princess of Friendship left a pony behind in limbo?"_

"That has nothing to do with this," exclaimed Twilight as she narrowly dodged another one of his attacks.

 _"Oh? So, you're okay living with the fact that you'll never see your friend again?"_

The purple alicorn couldn't think of a response to give, but that moment of hesitation allowed the cloaked unicorn to power up his silver staff, and send a surge of electricity that went straight into her body.

As Twilight began screaming in pain, Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth in anger, saying, "Alright, that pony's fighting dirty!"

 _Whoosh!_

The blue-colored Pegasus pony took off, and headed straight for the evil pony.

She crashed into him, causing the hooded pony to lose concentration, as well as allowing the staff to fall from his hooves.

 _"I got it, I got it!"_ Pinkie Pie shouted, as she bounced up into the air, hoping to grab the staff.

 _"No!"_ The sinister pony cried, and all of a sudden, a pair of wings appeared on the side of his body.

Twilight and Rainbow both gasped in surprise, saying, _"He's a Pegasus?"_

Right as Pinkie was about to grab onto it, the hooded pony yelled, _"I don't think so, idiotic pony!"_

With a strong flap of his wings, he was able to create a strong gust of wind that caused the staff to fly away from Pinkie...

... and into the mouth of Applejack, who began running away from the hooded pony.

"You okay, Twilight?" Rainbow asked, looking over her friend to try and find any injuries.

She nodded her head, saying, "Yeah, just... wish we hadn't left Casey behind."

As for the cloaked pony, he was about to retrieve the staff back from Applejack, but then, the hard-working Earth Pony tossed it behind the evil pony, and they watched as it was caught by Rarity.

 _"You!"_ The hooded pony, now filled with rage, started racing towards the white unicorn.

 _"Eeep!"_ Rarity quickly handed it over to Sunset, just as the hooded pony was about to reach the both of them.

With a grin, Sunset jumped into the air, flipping herself right over the winged and villainous pony, and she safely landed on the ground.

"Fluttershy, catch!" Sunset yelled, throwing it over to the pony who represented the Element of Kindness.

Taking a small gulp, Fluttershy flew over to the staff, and quickly caught it in her hooves.

"Nice catch right there, sugarcube!" called out Applejack.

The animal-loving pony looked down at the staff in her hands, and then, up to see the hooded pony flying straight towards her!

 _"I will not be defeated by-"_

 _BOOM! SPLAT!_

Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief, and said, "Thank you, Pinkie."

"No problem!" Pinkie Pie replied, giving her friend a salute.

Twilight and Rainbow landed by Shining Armor, and the alicorn used her magic to break the four pieces of ice.

"Thank you, Twily," said Shining, giving his sister a hug. "Looks like I owe you another one."

Twilight chuckled, and shook her head, saying, "That's fine, Shining... just go and make sure Cadence and Flurry Heart are okay."

Shining nodded, and went towards the castle while Twilight and Rainbow caught up to their friends.

"Here you go, Twilight," said Fluttershy, handing her the staff.

"Thanks, Fluttershy," replied Twilight, who carefully took the magical object from her.

Then, they walked over to where the hooded pony was, except he was now stuck to the ground because his body was covered in some sort of gooey substance.

"Um, what exactly _is that,_ Pinkie?" Rarity asked, not recognizing what it was.

Pinkie Pie smiled, and said, "I used a special type of _sticky cheese_ on him!"

 _"You're lucky I can't get my hooves on you right now,"_ growled the hooded pony.

With the staff floating above her head, Twilight frowned, and said, "Tell us how to bring back Casey before I send _you_ to another world."

The hooded pony let out a sarcastic laugh. " _Fat chance, your Highness... I still can't believe that you all probably think you've won."_

"Uh, I'm pretty _sure_ we're about to," replied Rainbow. "I mean, you're trapped in Pinkie Pie's cheese net, and Twilight is about ready to send you to one of the places you sent us to."

 _"You moronic pony, there's still a lot that you all know nothing about,"_ replied the hooded pony. _"There's a reason for everything."_

Rarity rolled her eyes, and she said, "You've already said that before."

 _"And none of you have yet to understand what I mean by that,"_ exclaimed the hooded pony. _"Why else would Rainbow Dash be_ _ **the**_ _one pony that could successfully pull off a Sonic Rainboom, as well as having the fate of all Equestria be depended upon it?"_

He then looked over at Twilight, saying, _"You may have defeated me today, your Highness, but there's still a lot you don't know about."_

Twilight frowned, and said, "I don't care about whatever it is you're saying... how do we bring back Casey?"

The hooded pony let out a dry laugh, and he said, _"There's only one way, but you won't hear it from me. So, you might as well-"_

 _ZAP! BOOM!_

Twilight had used the staff to send a black-and-blue energy beam at the hooded pony, and once it struck him, he was gone.

 _"Awww..."_ said Pinkie Pie, suddenly looking a bit sad. "He took the cheese with him!"

Applejack looked at her friend, and asked, "You okay there, Twi?"

The alicorn sighed, not knowing what to say, but she nodded her head, and looked at the staff in her hooves.

 _I'm going to bring you back, Casey... I promise._


	13. A Possible Alliance

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 13 - A Possible Alliance_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro._

 _Oh, and thanks again to "The Warrior of Twilight" for granting me permission to include his OC pony in my story._

 _Enjoy and please review!_

* * *

 _"Starlight...?"_

The purple unicorn smiled, and said, "Oh, good, you're awake."

Sunburst opened his eyes, seeing that he was tucked into his bed.

"You didn't have to... _aaghh..._ " He tried to sit up, but the unicorn instantly felt pain.

Starlight walked over to her friend, trying to help him get into a comfortable position. "You have to take it easy for a few days, Sunburst... he really did a number on you."

Sunburst sighed, and he said, "Well, thank you, but you don't have to stay here."

Starlight shook her head, giving her friend a smile. "I already talked about it with Twilight. She's actually proud of me."

With a quick role of her eyes, Starlight added, "And she wants me to take notes of anything that could be of some importance."

Sunburst chuckled a little, and watched her friend walk over to the dining room. "And you're going to put _everything_ that you do here?"

As she made her return, with a floating cup of warm and honey-flavored tea nearby, he noticed that Starlight was blushing.

"Well, I mean, I won't put down everything... there's some stuff I would like to keep to myself."

She handed her friend the cup of tea, and after Sunburst took a few sips, he asked, "What kind of stuff?"

Starlight began blushing even more as she walked up to her friend, and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek.

 _"Oh... r-right..."_ Sunburst said, who felt his face begin to heat up.

Starlight remained quiet, while Sunburst let out a chuckle. "Y-you know, um... I was really worried about you during that, er, whole time you were fighting him."

Twilight's pupil simply nodded, and said, "Thank you."

* * *

So, after dealing with the cloaked pony, Twilight used the silver staff to free all of the Crystal Ponies, as well as the castle guards.

"Thank you, your Highness," said Flash Sentry, showing his respect by bowing down.

Ignoring the teasing looks from her friends, Twilight said, "Oh, um, you're welcome."

Then, after finishing her conversation with Starlight, the alicorn princess turned to see Applejack giving Rainbow Dash a smug look. "Pay up, sugarcube."

Rainbow groaned, and muttered to herself as she handed over a few bits to Applejack.

"Well, that was certainly an adventurous experience," said Rarity, looking at Twilight. "Wouldn't you agree, darling?"

Twilight gave a small smile, and said, "None of us will forget it, that's for sure... but I still wish we could have brought Casey back with us."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, not believing what she was hearing her friend say. "Well, maybe in that empty world, but that doesn't mean you can't make some type of time travel machine here to get him back.

"Besides, you made one to go visit Sunset's world, even after she tried taking your crown and possibly trapping you there for a very long time."

Twilight frowned, and Rainbow sheepishly looked over at Sunset. "But, uh, no offense..."

"None taken... again," chuckled Sunset, who was already used to hearing that phrase. "But she's right, Twilight, if anyone can build something like that, it's you."

"And if you can't do it on your own," added Applejack, standing next to princess. "We're more than willing to help ya out!"

Fluttershy nodded, in agreement, saying, "Friends stick together for everypony, no matter what... but, um, I want to make sure Discord is okay, so after I check on him, then I'll be there to help."

Pinkie Pie, who was still carrying around her Party Cannon, also agreed with the others. "We'll help out no matter how many times you might mess up!"

"Um... thanks, Pinkie," replied Twilight. "So we'd better get started on it, then!"

Everypony agreed with that, and the group of friends began to make their way to the Train station, until Rarity asked, "Um, but where exactly did you _send_ that evil pony?"

A smirk smile appeared on Twilight's face as she said, "Let's just say that I hope he likes being called _Antoinette._ "

* * *

 _The Next Day_

 **[Imagine the piece "Training Montage" by George S. Clinton during this scene of her creating the machine.]**

True to their words, once the Mane 6 (and Sunset) had returned to Twilight's Castle, they helped out Twilight in creating _something_ that would be able to have Casey come back.

During that time, Twilight had also examined the silver staff, but was unable to understand exactly what type of energy was inside of it.

"You think it could be from wherever he came from?" Spike asked, while his best friend was studying the staff's power levels.

Twilight sighed as she said, "That's a definite possibility, Spike, but that's the closest thing I can come to, aside from us seeing what it can do."

"When _he_ used it, Twilight," reminded the young dragon. "You used it for completely different reasons... maybe it reacts to whatever the holder is feeling."

Twilight smiled, and wrapped a hoof around Spike. "Who knew your comic book reading would come in handy?"

 _"Haha, very funny,"_ said Spike, but also found himself laughing a little.

 _Later that night..._

It had taken almost an entire day, but after putting the staff in its required spot, Twilight let out a sigh of relief. "Alright, everypony, I think that should do the trick."

"About time," yawned Rainbow Dash, with sleepiness in her voice.

Applejack looked at her, a frown on her face. "What? I helped out, like I said, didn't I?"

They had helped Twilight out with making multiple adjustments to the Crystal Mirror time machine, and once the staff was activated, it was ready to go.

"So, um... how do you know if it'll take you back to where Casey is?" Rainbow asked, sounding concerned. "What if you end up somewhere else?"

Twilight smiled, and said, "I'm glad you said that, Rainbow, because that is why I have this chart."

She pointed to the "chart" that taped to the side of the machine, and explained what it showed. "Every time the hooded pony shot an energy blast at us, it was always a different color, so I've listed those colors here, along with the name of the locations you all gave me."

The places that she had written on the list were "Smile HD", "Empty World," and "Cupcakes", as well as "Sunset's World," "Alternate Equestria", and "Townsville".

Underneath those, however, were several blank slates that made Rainbow ask, "What about these non-written ones, Twilight?"

"Those are for the other possible worlds that the staff could take somepony to," replied Twilight. "So, now, it's time to bring our friend back."

She began to walk into the mirror's glowing portal, but stopped when Applejack asked, "You want us to go with you, sugarcube?"

Twilight shook her head, even though she appreciated the offer. "It won't even take that long."

She continued walking, and after entering the portal, a bright light shone that made everypony cover their eyes.

Once it was gone, Rainbow asked, "So, uh, how long did she take those previous times to visit Sunset?"

"An hour and 12 mins for the first time," replied Pinkie. "And the second time was an hour and 28 minutes."

Everypony looked at her. "What?"

 _Whoosh!_

The machine turned back on, and they watched as Twilight came stumbling out, with Casey doing the same a few minutes after.

"Remind to add possible side affects of time traveling to the chart," said Twilight, her eyes spinning around.

When Casey got up and was able to stand on all four hooves, he saw everypony giving him a smile.

"Er... I just have a quick question," he said. "None of you have seen a gold-colored pony that wears a cloak, right?"

"Uh, no, why?" Rainbow asked, a confused look on her face.

Casey chuckled, and said, "Never mind... just means that I'm not in a different world."

He then looked over at Twilight, saying, "Thanks for bringing me back."

Twilight smiled warmly, and said, "It's like what Fluttershy told us all earlier, we would never leave a friend behind."

Casey looked at the shy and bashful Pegasus, who said, "Uh-huh, she's right... you're our friend now, Casey."

"And _as_ a friend, I just want to apologize for what I said earlier," said Rainbow, looking guilty. "It wasn't _entirely_ your fault that we ended up in this mess."

"Thanks, Rainbow, I really appreciate that," Casey said, and the two of them shared a hoof-bump.

Then, he turned around, and noticed the Crystal Mirror. "So, _this_ is where it's been at... no wonder I couldn't find it in the Crystal Castle."

"Which reminds me..." said Sunset, walking over to Twilight. "I know this wasn't exactly a proper visit, but I need to go back home, too."

Although she wanted to talk more with Sunset, Twilight knew that her friend was right, so before departing, the yellow unicorn and purple alicorn shared a hug.

"But don't be a stranger now, ya hear?" Applejack said. "You're not just Twilight's friend, you're a friend to all of us."

"Oh, and do bring the other Rarity next time you come back," asked the white unicorn. "I would _love_ for the both of us to spend a day together at my boutique."

Sunset chuckled, and nodded her head. "Sure, I'll run it by her, Rarity."

So, the former student of Celestia stepped into the portal, returning back to the world she currently resided in.

"You'll be okay, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked, putting a hoof around her friend.

Twilight nodded her head, but then, she noticed Casey looking down at the ground, his face bearing a sad expression.

"You okay there, sugarcube?" Applejack asked, noticing his sadness, as well.

Casey nodded his head, saying, "Yeah, but... I'm still sad that I lost the necklace that Twilight gave me."

Twilight walked over to Casey, and said, in a comforting tone, "We're all just glad that you're safe and sound, Casey... besides, it was really just a necklace."

Casey simply smiled at the alicorn, and nodded his head.

* * *

 _Several Days Later_

"Mhmm, this is _delicious_ ," said Casey, after swallowing the food that had been in his mouth. "What did you call it again?"

"A cherrychanga," replied Pinkie Pie, giving him a wide smile. "One of the most bestest foods ever created!"

Casey wiped his muzzle with a napkin, and began to laugh. "Well, thank you for making it for me."

The two of them were eating atop a table that had been placed in the library, while Twilight was busy helping Spike in a room next door, and a few feet away, the Crystal Mirror time machine was currently turned off.

 _Until..._

"Um, Casey, is the portal _supposed_ to glow like that without Twilight turning it on?" Pinkie Pie said, pointing at the mirror.

Casey turned around, and saw that the machine had somehow turned on by itself. "How in Equestria did-"

 _Whoosh! Thump!_

All of a sudden, a pony came flying out of the mirror, and crash-landed onto the ground.

 _"I will never be used to that,"_ mumbled the newcomer, his head feeling it was spinning around in a dizzying circle.

 _Wait, this can't be right,_ thought Casey, who began to recognize the pony. _How exactly did he-_

After shaking away any dizziness from his head, the gold-colored pony found himself looking at the light-orange Earth Pony.

"Ah, hello again, Casey... I believe that this necklace belongs to you," said Stardust, walking over to him.

He handed Casey the special accessory, and smiled at the surprised expression on his face. "You didn't think you would just leave it back in _my_ home, did you?"

Casey remained silent for a quick minute before saying, "Thank you so-"

 _"Casey? Pinkie? Everypony okay?"_

Before any of them could speak, Twilight used her magic to open the doors, walking in as she said, "The lights were flickering on and off, so I wondered if something was-"

She stopped, however, when she noticed another pony was in the room, and that he was standing in front of the mirror.

"Oh, um, hello, kind pony," greeted Twilight, being polite. "Who might _you_ be?"

 _There's always that one pony_

 _That will always have your heart_

"Um... I, er..." Stardust was at a loss for words.

 _You'll never see it coming_

 _'Cause you're blinded from the start_

Aside from the random music playing in his head... for some reason, the way that the Earth Pony felt right now was very close to the night he had felt during Twilight's princess coronation.

When she'd found him on the balcony, and they had shared their long-expected first kiss...

 **Will you get a hold of yourself, you foolish dimwit? We came here for a purposeful reason, not so you could moon over another Twilight!**

"Wait, who was that?" Twilight asked, looking around the library for the source of the familiar voice.

 **You cannot be serious right now.**

Casey smirked, and muttered, "He's not exactly nice, is he?"

If Stardust didn't know any better, he could have sworn that Sombra was close to fainting.

"Well, um... Twilight, allow me to-" began the young pony, but unfortunately (for him), the introduction honor belonged to somepony else.

"This is Stardust Balance, but his real name is Jack, and he's from the alternate version of Equestria that Casey went to, but he's also from a planet called Earth that's almost like the world that Sunset Shimmer stays at, which he actually isn't that really fond about.

"He's basically on this journey that someponies would say is _beyond insane,_ and he also wears that cloak that _his world's_ Rarity gave him because he doesn't like ponies to see his Cutie Mark, which is made up of a blue heart and a blue star, and even though he isn't a unicorn or alicorn like you or Starlight, he has his own magical powers because he represents the _balance_ between chaos and harmony, and when he really needs to, he could _really_ pack a super power punch!

"Anyway, he pretty much didn't really wanna be friends with _his_ versions of _us_ , at first, and was always putting himself in danger, but over time, he became a better friend to everypony, especially Twilight and Spike.

"He also doesn't really like Princess Celestia all that much, but does like the way my sister Maud is -

 **[pauses to look at Stardust]** "I'll tell her you said hi!"

 **[goes back to Twilight]** "And as for the voices in his head, one of them is a kinda-sorta-not-really-but-maybe reformed version of King Sombra, and the other one sounds a lot like the one who helped us out when the hooded pony trapped us in those other worlds, but to make a long story short..."

 **"Too late for that** ," said Sombra, in Stardust's mind.

Pinkie then took a deep breath, and said, "Twilight, Stardust. Stardust, Twilight."

Neither of the two didn't know what to say or how to respond.

 _You know, that pony in particular always manages to find a way to surprise me._

Starlight found himself frowning as he thought, _And just where exactly have_ _ **you**_ _been this entire time?_

His response was - _I've been rather busy, Jack, to say the least._

"Ohhh, _now_ I remember," said Pinkie, nodding her head. "That second voice is actually Starswirl!"

It was now Twilight's turn to gasp, and a bright smile appeared on her face, as well as her eyes growing wide. " _You talk to Starswirl the Bearded?_ "

 **Oh, Celestia, not this again!**

"What?" Twilight asked, looking confused and upset. "What did I say?"

Accepting the fact that she, Casey, and Pinkie could hear him, Sombra said, **"If you must know,** _ **Princess**_ **, the** _ **other**_ **Twilight that this foolish human adores so much had a reaction close to the one you were about to have."**

"Adores?" Twilight said, confused. "Are you saying that-"

"Well, _duh_ ," said Pinkie Pie, as if the answer was obvious. "The reason he couldn't speak before was because he-"

However, she was interrupted by Stardust, who didn't look that much happy or surprised anymore.

"What the f**k is _that_ f***in pony doing here?" He exclaimed, in anger, and pointing behind Twilight.

Everypony turned to look at the doors, and saw a nervous-looking Flash Sentry. "Um, I apologize, your Highness, but there's a message I have to... er... I think I'll just wait outside."

He quickly walked away, closing the doors behind him, while everypony looked at Stardust. "What?"

 **You idiot. Don't you remember what happened when you cursed in that other world you despise so much?**

Stardust looked at the three ponies, and asked, "You all heard what I said?"

 **Of course, you dimwit! AND you didn't even have the BEEP this time to protect you.**

Casey simply shook his head, thinking, _How the heck could anypony like Twilight choose him as a special somepony?_

Stardust cleared his throat, and said, "Okay, well... now that introductions have been made... there are some things I would actually like to discuss."

Twilight nodded her head, looking at the gold pony with interest. "Sure. What do you want to discuss?"

"Well," said Stardust, letting out a sigh. "Although I am glad that I was able to successfully return the necklace to Casey, I am concerned about the fact that you three know... well, almost everything about me, and what occurs in my world."

"Oh..." Twilight then began to look a little disappointed, since she had several questions that she wanted to ask Stardust. "So, will this be the last time we ever see you?"

 **I would hope so.**

Starlight rolled his eyes, and said, "Ignore that... and, no, not exactly, Twilight, but I think it would be best for both our worlds if only me and Casey went to each other's world... and only if the situation required my assistance. I would like to simply avoid a possible apocalyptic situation."

Twilight nodded her head, understanding what he meant. "Like me and your Twilight being face-to-face with each other."

"Yep!" Pinkie Pie said, as she bounced up and down. "Otherwise we could risk the chance of creating a paradox that could destroy both of our worlds!"

If Stardust had a regular human mouth, it would've dropped to the ground by now.

" _How_ do you know all of this?"

Pinkie Pie shrugged, and said, "Just a hunch... ooh, by the way, there's this new song I wanna try real quick!"

Before Twilight could say anything, a musical instrument appeared in Pinkie's hooves, and she began to sing along while playing a song. " _W_ _e are number one!_ "

 **Let us leave before this damn pony gives me a migraine.**

"Hey!" Pinkie Pie replied, pausing her performance. "That's not very nice!"

Letting out a chuckle, Stardust apologized to Pinkie, and walked over to Casey, saying in a low voice, "Good luck with your relationship with Twilight... hope everything works out okay."

"Thanks," replied Casey. "Any advice you could give me?"

Taking a quick look at the beautiful alicorn, Stardust said, "I would, my friend, but... it would be more fun and life-changing to discover on your own... that's how it is for me."

He offered a hoof for him to shake, which Casey happily accepted, and then, Stardust walked over to Twilight, taking her hoof in his own.

He knelt down, and kissed her hoof, saying, "It was a pleasure meeting you, Princess Twilight."

The blushing alicorn let out a small laugh, and said, "Um, t-thanks, Stardust..."

Casey looked at him with an expression that meant "Seriously?"

Walking back over to his new friend, Stardust said, "I apologize for that, but I was simply giving you an example on how to treat her right... and there is actually _one_ crucial piece of advice that I can give to you, my friend... and that is to _never ever_ make Twilight upset, or even break her heart."

"What would happen if I did?" Casey asked, wondering now what the other Twilight could have possibly done to Stardust whenever he made her upset.

Stardust sighed, and he said, "Well, one is that you could become a splat of paint on the front of the Friendship Express..."

"Alright, I think I get the picture," replied Casey, who gulped a little. "Happy pony, happy life."

"Exactly," Stardust said, and after saying goodbye to Pinkie Pie, he went into the mirror's portal, traveling back to his home.

"So _that_ was Stardust, huh?" Twilight said, who was still smiling. "He's a very interesting pony..."

 _I really hope there isn't another version of him here,_ thought the orange Earth Pony.

Twilight then looked at Casey, who had just finished putting back on the necklace she had given him.

"It makes me happy seeing you wear that again, Casey."

The Earth Pony smiled, and said, "Thanks, Twilight... um, so does this mean that we-"

The winged alicorn giggled, and gave him a wink. "You're just going to have to find out on your own."

* * *

Once he was back in his _own world_ , Stardust was glad to see his special somepony in front of him.

"How'd it go?" Twilight asked.

 **Ah, yes, do tell her how you found yourself drooling over a somewhat alternate version of herself.**

Stardust looked at Twilight, and a smile appeared on his face. "It was... interesting..."

"Will you ever go back to that world?" The alicorn princess wondered.

The golden-colored pony looked behind him, and said, "Only if they are involved in a situation that I'm needed in..."


	14. Checking In

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 14 - Checking In  
_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro._

 _Also, please enjoy the last time of seeing Stardust Balance in one of my MLP stories... because the truth is that he doesn't even belong to me; that honor goes to the Warrior of Twilight, author of "A Journey Beyond Sanity"._

 _However, after having a discussion with him, I can say that you'll see him again... in another story I write... at some point in time._

 _Besides, Stardust has his own situations to deal with in AJBS._

* * *

Since Starlight was continuing to help Sunburst during his time of healing from serious injury, and Casey never really had any place of his own to stay at, Twilight had decided to offer him residence in her castle.

" _Seriously_?" Casey said, when she had given him the news. " _But, but..._ _W-why me_?"

The purple alicorn gave him a warm smile, and replied, "It's like I told you when we first met... I enjoy making new friends, and there's a lot you can learn about friendship when it comes to me and the others."

Casey still couldn't believe it. "Wow, I... Twilight, I don't know what to say... aside from 'thank you', from the bottom of my heart."

"You're welcome," replied Twilight, nodding her head.

The Earth Pony then looked at all of the notes and papers full of information that she had on the table in front of her. "Any closer into figuring out who the mystery pony was?"

Twilight shook her head, sighing. "No, except that he's a yellow Pegasi pony with green eyes... but I could have sworn that Sta-"

 _Boom!_

Their conversation was interrupted when the two ponies heard a faint explosion from the kitchen.

 _"I'm okay!"_ Spike yelled, which made Twilight sigh as she shook her head.

"Should we go look for the fire extinguisher?" Casey suggested, trying his best to hide the grin that was trying to appear on his face.

The purple alicorn rolled her eyes, and groaned as she said, "Yes, but first let's see how bad it is in there..."

"Sure thing, Twilight." Casey chuckled, following the princess into the kitchen to make sure Spike was okay.

 _Happy pony, happy life_ , he also thought, remembering Stardust's "special advice" that he had given him a few days ago.

All of a sudden, Pinkie Pie appeared, and she zoomed right by them, heading into the kitchen, with a fire extinguisher in her hooves. _"I'm coming, Spike!"_

"What the... how did she get in here?" Casey said, looking at Twilight in shock.

The purple alicorn laughed, and shook her head as she said, "Like I said, there's a lot you need to know about."

As Twilight continued her way towards the kitchen, Casey took another look at the turtledove necklace she had given him.

 _I wonder if Ponyville has the same necklace that the other Twilight had in Stardust's world_ , thought the Earth Pony.

But after a moment, he found himself chuckling. _Nah, I'll just be original... I mean, I wouldn't want him to get mixed up if he, like, ever saw them in the same room or something, wearing the same necklace._

* * *

 _Sunset's World_

 _"Whoa, seriously?! That's awesome!"  
_

School was over for the day, and Sunset Shimmer had just finished explaining to her friends about what had happened in the _pony_ version of Equestria.

"Well, I mean, Princess Twilight deserves more of the credit since she's the one who had to fight the guy," replied the unicorn-turned-human, as she leaned against the monument that was actually their version of the Crystal Mirror gateway.

The human version of Twilight (or, as some people would call her, Sci-Twi) was in awe after hearing all of the amazing things that her pony counterpart had done. "Did you all figure out who it was?"

Sunset sighed, and she shook her head, as well as crossing her arms. "No... he was still able to use his darn hood to cover up most of face, and all that we know is that he's a sort of dark-yellow Pegasi pony with green eyes."

"How'd you know that if his hood was coverin' up his face?" Applejack asked, before taking another bite out of an apple that she had been eating.

"Because Twilight and Starlight were able to use their magic to cause parts of his hood to rip off," replied Sunset. "So we were able to see his muzzle and a part of his eyes."

Fluttershy, who was playing with her pet bunny named Angel, gave her a curious look as she asked, "So, does that explain why the pony versions of Applejack and Rarity were sent here?"

Sunset nodded her head, while Rarity's eyes begin to twinkle as she said, "And by the way, Sunset, thank you so very much for letting me know about my pony self wanting me to spend a day with her at her boutique. Oh, I can already imagine all of the wonderful dresses that my hands can create."

Applejack gave her "fashion crazy" friend a smirk as she reminded her, "Uh, Rare, you _do know_ that you'll probably be turned into a pony when you get there, right? It's the same thing that happens to Sunset."

Rarity frowned, and replied, "Don't spoil my excitement, AJ... just because _your_ pony self didn't invite _you_ to spend a day with her collecting apples or whatever it is that she does in that world."

Sunset Shimmer looked at the two of them, and asked, "Uh, what exactly _did_ happen when they came here?"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as she remembered what had occurred that day. "All they did was talk about stuff that happened in Princess Twilight's world, and next thing we all know, the portal thing turns on, and sucks them in like a vacuum cleaner."

"Excuse me, Rainbow, but that _stuff_ me and my pony counterpart talked about was very important," replied Rarity. "And _you_ are just upset that you haven't been able to meet _your_ other self yet!"

Rainbow gritted her teeth in frustration, and cried, "Hey, I'm getting there, alright? I had a dream about me sitting on top of her, and we flew _all over_ Equestria, so I'm willing to bet that the next person to meet their counterpart will be _me_!"

Applejack let out a chuckle as she said, "Makes sense... since you and Fluttershy are the only ones here who haven't met your other selves yet."

The athletic teenager mumbled to herself as she crossed her arms, while Sunset asked, "So, Pinkie's seen her other self also?"

Everyone looked at the super-party-planning human, who was currently sucking on a lollipop. "Uh-huh, I've seen her."

"Well, you've never told _me_ before," said Sunset, a frown appearing on her face. "What happened?"

Pinkie Pie shrugged her shoulders, and said, "It was sometime after the Friendship Games. We just talked about stuff that happened here and there, and she went back home."

Sunset looked at the rest of her friends, wondering if they would say anything else about it.

"We try not to question what happened," said Applejack. "Lord knows we need somethin' else to worry about here."

* * *

 _Stardust's World_

Inside of the library in Twilight's castle, Stardust was currently putting away a book that he had just finished reading when he noticed a small package on the ground.

"Huh, how did this get in here?" The Earth Pony picked it up with his hooves, and examined to see if there was a _"to/from"_ tag anywhere... and, sure enough, he found it on the left side of the package _._

 **Well, what a surprise... a simple gift from your new ally that can apparently hear me and the elderly one.**

Stardust brought it over to a nearby coffee table, and looked at with curiosity.

 _Aren't you going to open it?_ asked the voice of Starswirl.

"Yeah, but..." said Stardust, as he started to frown. "I _told_ him not to come here unless it was extremely important."

Starswirl replied, _You don't exactly know if he actually came here to leave it in this library for you to find. Maybe he found some other way._

 **Oh, yes, of course... he probably had that headache-creating pony bring it here somehow.  
**

Stardust shook his head, and replied, "First off, I don't want to think about that possibility... I'm still surprised she was able to figure out who I was based on a damn _hunch_... and second, he's lucky that he and the other ponies don't know that they are actually fictional chara-"

 _Wait a second, Jack... Is that a folded letter attached to the gift?_

The young pony paused his sentence to see what Starswirl was referring to, and noticed that there was a taped letter on the other side, folded into a tiny square.

He carefully removed the office tape that was placed on top (so neither it nor the package would be damaged), and after unfolding it, he sat in a nearby reclining chair, and started to read it.

 _"Dear Stardust, I apologize if this seems like I am breaking the promise that I made with you about not coming to your world unless I had to, but I didn't know of any other way to deliver this to you."_

Before the young pony could continue, however, the voices in his head started arguing with each other

 _He does have a point, Jack._

 **Why must you be so sentimental?  
**

 _Alright, then, Sombra, how would YOU have done it, then?_

 ** _*scoffs*_ I would not have wasted my time into something- **

_"Hey!"_ hissed an annoyed Stardust. "I'm trying to read this thing? Can't you guys just say whatever it you need to say _after_ I finish?"

...

"Good. I'm glad we could all agree." Stardust said, and he resumed reading Casey's letter aloud, to himself.

 _"The gift in front of you is a way of me saying 'thank you' for returning the necklace that Twilight gave to me. I could only imagine how you'd feel if you ever lost something that your Twilight gave you, or even the cloak that... apparently was given to you by the Rarity in your world."_

Before continuing on, Stardust paused to remember the day that he had used his cloak as part of a trading bargain, in order to give Twilight a special Starswirl bookmark.

 _"And I also want to say thanks for telling me what you could about keeping Twilight happy... but ever since you left, she's been taking notes and drawing charts and stuff about you, saying that she wants to try and find a pony in 'our world' that has the same powers as you... basically our version of someone like you."  
_

 **Huh, so what do you know... You seem to cause trouble in almost _every_ world that you go to.  
**

Ignoring Sombra's comment, Stardust kept on reading the letter.

 _"Anyway, I hope you that you enjoy the gift in the package, and that it'll hopefully be of some use to you."_

At the bottom was Casey's signature, and Stardust felt a smile start to form on his face.

 _So, are you still upset with him?_ asked Starswirl.

 _"Well..._ maybe I can let him off the hook this one time," replied Stardust, who was now curious about what exactly Casey had sent him.

 **Wait a second, boy. There's a p.s. at the bottom of the letter.**

Stardust took another look at the letter, and realized that Sombra was right.

 _"P.S. I hope your Twilight wasn't too mad when you told her that the Twilight here left you speechless when you first saw her."_

From inside of the young pony's mind, Sombra started to chuckle. **I'm starting to like this pony, for some reason.**

As he carefully placed the letter on the ground, Stardust simply rolled his eyes, even though he had yet to tell Twilight about that moment. "Let's just see what he got me, okay?"

However, just as he was about to start tearing off the wrapping paper, Twilight entered the room, with Spike by her side. "Hey, Jack, Spike and I were wondering if... ooh, what's that?"

Turning to look at his special somepony, Stardust replied, "It's a gift from Casey... as a way of thanking me for bringing back the necklace."

Twilight gave him a smirk, and said, "See? And you didn't want to get involved in this..."

" _Ha-ha_ , very funny," replied Stardust, who was still holding onto the package. "When it comes to something like this, love, I tend to-"

"And he wrote you a letter, too?"

"Yeah, but that's not the point, I was saying that..." He paused after realizing what she had just said, and saw that Twilight was now holding onto Casey's letter. "How did you get that?"

However, Twilight was already reading what Casey had written, and for the first time in a long while, Stardust nervously gulped... as well as wishing that he had the power of teleportation right about now.

 **Now, _this_ should definitely be interesting.**

 _Just relax, Jack, I am sure that the princess will understand.  
_

Spike looked at the young pony, and noticed that he looked somewhat nervous. "You okay, bro?"

Before Stardust could answer, however, Twilight's mood and tone of voice changed as she reached the "p.s." part of the letter, and as she looked up, he saw that she wasn't exactly happy anymore. "Care to explain why you left this out of the story you told me and everypony else?"

Spike looked between the two of them, sensing the growing tension in the room, and casually started to walk out of the library. "Um, I think I hear, uh, Rarity calling my name... later, Star!"

 _Whoosh!_

Once the dragon was in the hallway, he took off as fast as he could, with Twilight still waiting for an answer from Stardust. _  
_

"Um... any help, guys?" whispered the golden-colored pony, who was speaking to Sombra and Starswirl.

...

Stardust sighed, and muttered to himself, "Thank you _so much_."

"Jack, I am not _mad, a_ nd I am trying to not be upset with you right now... because I love you," said Twilight, who really was trying to remain calm. "But I am starting to get _annoyed_ at the fact that I found out whatever he's talking about from his letter instead of _you_."

The young pony chuckled nervously, and said, "Well, um... it wasn't anything 'major', love, I just, ah... oh, hello, Princess Cadence, what a surprise!"

 _"Cadence?"_ Twilight's eyes started to sparkle as she turned around, ready to perform the "special dance" that she and her former foal-sitter used to share, but no pony was there. "Hey, she isn't even..."

When Twilight turned back around, she saw that Stardust was halfway successful in trying to climb out of a nearby window. " _Oh, no you don't, you tell me what happened!"_

 **Good luck, foolish human.  
**

 _"Shut up, Sombra... whoa!"_ hissed Stardust, who suddenly felt himself being pulled back in via Twilight's magic.

Then, once they were facing each other, the young pony said, "Um... you still aren't mad yet, are you?"

The alicorn princess remained silent.

"Point taken... well, ah, what _happened_ was that I had a, um, moment of hesitation before introducing myself to the other Twilight."

Showing him the letter, Twilight said, "Then, explain what he meant by _speechless_... because that word and _hesitation_ have two completely different meanings."

Before Stardust could say anything else, Starswirl offered the young pony some advice.

 _There is no need to fear her reaction, Jack. Your nervousness is only making this small thing seem worse. Just take a deep breath, relax, and tell her._

Nodding his head, Stardust did just that, and then, he said, "What Casey 'meant' is that when I first saw her, I felt the same way as I did that night of your coronation, when we were at the balcony... then I just snapped out of it, and I told them what I told you and the others what I said."

After hearing that, Twilight released him from her magic, but she still looked annoyed with him. "So, you're saying that your breath was taken away by another Twilight?"

Stardust immediately shook his head. "Of course not, love, I just had a, um... romantic flashback moment... and besides, you know you're the only pony out there for me."

The young alicorn raised an eyebrow, and asked, "So... you can guarantee to me that this won't happen the next time you see her again?"

 **Oh, I bet you that you would,** said Sombra, laughing inside Stardust's mind. **You can't deny the fact that she's still Twilight, in a way.**

"There's no reason why it should," replied Stardust, who started to chuckle as a way to lighten the mood, as well as ignoring Sombra. "I mean, like, unless Casey somehow managed to find the necklace I gave you in _his_ world, and gave it to _his_ Twilight, then I might possibly-"

Twilight let out a small growl as her annoyance with Stardust started growing more than it was earlier.

"Never mind... but that was pretty much all that happened, love... really..."

"Are you _sure_ , Jack?" Twilight asked, in a serious tone.

Stardust nodded his head, and answered, "I am completely positive... you aren't mad, right?"

Twilight groaned, and rolled her eyes as she said, "I told you that I am _not_ mad, Jack, I am just _annoyed_ at the fact that you didn't _tell me_ this yourself as soon as you came back."

"Really?" said Stardust, surprised.

The young alicorn nodded her head, which made him feel a lot better. "Well, then, I'm sorry for not telling you sooner... so how about if I-"

 **And this is the part where things become worse for you** , laughed Sombra.

Before Stardust could respond, he and Twilight heard another familiar voice... one that he currently was not in the mood for to hear.

 _"You became all goo-goo eyed for another Twilight? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha..."_

The two of them turned to see Rainbow Dash, who had entered a while ago to ask Twilight for another _Daring Do_ book to borrow... and had heard almost everything that Stardust had said to Twilight.

 _"Wait until I tell everypony else!"_ laughed the winged and blue Pegasus pony, who then flew off as fast as she possibly could.

Stardust gritted his teeth, in frustration, and began to run after her. " _Get back here, Rainbow!"_

As for Twilight, she found herself laughing a little as she shook her head, but then, her attention was caught by the gift from Casey that Stardust had yet to unwrap.

"I wonder what could be in there..."


	15. Just the Beginning

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time  
**

 _Chapter 15 - Just the Beginning_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while the character named Stardust Balance belongs to "The Warrior of Twilight". I just own the story and its OCs.  
_

* * *

 _Limbo_

"How the hell did my plan go _wrong_?!" yelled the hooded pony, although he currently did not have it on.

Waving one of his hooves in a circle, he created a portal in front of him that showed Casey helping Twilight pack for a trip

"Of course, Twilight _always_ has to be the hero in these type of stories... and I cannot believe that I did not realize sooner that _he_ was going to be the love interest."

 _And you still have feelings for her... don't you, Miles?_

The yellow Pegasi rolled his eyes after hearing the voice inside his mind, which represented the goodness that he had deep inside of himself. "That has nothing to do with this... I still would have finished her off."

His inner voice let out a sigh. _Would that have made you satisfied, then? Killing the one pony you care most about?_

 _"MY TWILIGHT IS ALREADY DEAD!"_ A frustrated Miles yelled, his green eyes full of anger. "For ten damn years, she's been gone, and there's no chance of her coming back."

 _You don't know that._

Miles gritted his teeth, in frustration. "Are you _blind_? I have checked over, and _over_ , and _over again_... nothing has changed!"

 _Well, killing the Mane Six of another author's world is certainly not going to bring her back._

"I don't _want_ to bring her back, you moron!" yelled Miles, still frustrated. "If I can't enjoy my _happy ever after_ with _my_ Twilight, then _no pony_ can."

 _So, that's your plan? Murder all of the Mane Six and any of Twilight's love interests in all of the other worlds?_

 _"Exactly,"_ growled the cloaked pony. "But not just Twilight's... _all_ of the Mane Six's love interests."

Using his hoof again, Miles moved the portal that showed Casey's world to the side, and created another one that showed Stardust reading a book alongside the Twilight in his world. "And he's at the top of my list... the Earth Pony who represents balance between chaos and harmony."

 _What do you have against him, anyway?  
_

" _His story w_ as created on the same date that mine was," answered Miles, who looked away after seeing the two ponies sharing a kiss. "But once my story was abruptly put to an end, Stardust's story continued on, and now, nobody reads my story anymore."

 _Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but I don't see any way for you to 'kill' him._

Miles rolled his eyes, and said, "Of _course_ you don't... but you know as well as _I_ do that killing makes _my_ dark powers grow stronger."

Then, with a sly grin, he added, "Plus, none of these ponies know the _true_ way to defeat me... not even someone like _Stardust_ can stop me... all thanks to the way I was written."

 _That still doesn't explain how exactly you plan on ending his life... and besides, your staff is currently in Twilight's library._

Hearing his inner voice say that sentence made Miles begin to laugh. "I'll worry about that when the time is right for me to return to that world... and as for Stardust..."

Miles waved his hoof again to create more portals, which also showed Stardust... except they showed him with a different love interest besides Twilight.

 _What is this?_

"All of these Stardust's are connected in a special way," said Miles. "That one has him paired with Applejack, while these two show him with Fluttershy and Rarity... hell, _this one_ shows what would have happened if he had ended up in Sunset's world instead of the one he's in right now..."

Then, his sly smile began to grow into a wide and evil grin. "And by the time he realizes it, it'll already be too late for him."

Before his inner voice could say anything else, Miles' body was covered in a dark-colored energy that resembled flames.

 _What are you doing?_

"You mean you can't tell already?" Miles said, with an evil chuckle. "I'm killing every single one of these alternate Stardust's, and when it's time for me to return, I'm going to kill the real one."

 _Miles, please, don't do this to yourself. This is not what your author-_

"I've heard enough from you, weakling!" Ignoring his inner voice, Miles went into the portal that led to a world where Stardust was romantically involved with Fluttershy.

 _Yes, Stardust, the two of us are certainly going to have quite the epic battle... and I'm going to enjoy seeing the look on your face when I rid you of the pony whom you care most about... hahahahahaha!_

* * *

 _"Twilight? You okay?"_

The purple alicorn looked from side to side, searching for something. "Yeah, I just... had a bad feeling about something terrible happening right now."

Rainbow Dash, who was also helping Casey pack Twilight's suitcase, rolled her eyes at what she said. "Well, duh, Twilight, it's only been a week since that hooded pony showed up. You probably just had a flashback or something."

"Yeah... maybe..." said Twilight, but she didn't look to sure.

Casey thought about what he could say to make her feel better. "Maybe you shouldn't go with Rainbow to the-"

 _"Are you kidding me?"_ exclaimed Rainbow, flying in front of Casey's face. "That's the worst thing you could possibly do!"

Twilight stepped in between the two of them, and said, "Hey, take it easy, Rainbow, he didn't know."

For those wondering, Twilight was going with Rainbow to the "Daring Do Convention" in Manehatten, and just like the one that Rainbow had went to last year, A.K. Yearling - the author of the "Daring Do" books that the two of them loved reading - was going to attend, although it was due to her not being able to make it last year because of "work reasons".

"Yeah, well, if he's going to be your special somepony," said Rainbow, starting to frown. "He should worry about knowing how to make you happy, not upset."

Casey felt embarrassed while Twilight started to blush. "We're starting as friends right now, Rainbow..."

The Pegasi pony simply shrugged, and went back to putting stuff in Twilight's suitcase.

"Sorry about that," said Twilight, looking at Casey. "I should have told you how important this convention actually is."

"It's alright, I think I understand," replied the red-faced Earth Pony. "Um... so are you going to have her sign all of those books?"

He was referring to the ones that they had already packed into Twilight's suitcase, and the purple alicorn nodded her head, smiling. "Uh-huh.. since _somepony_ didn't get her latest one signed _after_ that pony promised that she would."

Rainbow sheepishly looked at the two of them, and said, "Well, I had every intent of getting her to sign it, but things just... happened that got in the way of all that."

Twilight rolled her eyes, and said, "Yes, the small adventure you had with Daring Do and your new friend, Quibble Pants. Is he going there, too?"

"Probably," replied the athletic pony. "You'll like him, too, but I gotta warn you - he isn't a big fan of the books that come after the orignal trilogy."

"Really?" Twilight said, surprised. "How come?"

As she finished up with packing her friend's suitcase, Rainbow said, "He thinks they're all dumbed down and totally unrealistic... but we made up pretty much after Daring Do saved us."

"So, she's an actual pony?" Casey wondered, who assumed that "Daring Do" was only a fictional character.

"Uh, _yeah_ , she is," replied Rainbow, a wide smile on her face. "And plus, me and Twilight know the author personally!"

Casey looked at Twilight, who chuckled as she said, "Long story, Casey. I'll tell you when we come back, okay?"

The Earth Pony smiled, and nodded his head. "Sure, can't wait to hear it."


	16. Time to Play

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 16 - Time to Play_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight, a FF author._

* * *

 _Starity World_

 _Knock-Knock-Knock!_

"Oh, excuse me one moment, darling," said Rarity, pausing in front of the table where she had intended on "fixing" the mane and beard of her "special somepony".

Stardust, who still felt a bit stunned after receiving a kiss from the white pony, simply nodded his head.

Once Rarity was at the door, she assumed that Spike had come back to grab something he'd forgotten... but instead, it was a cloaked pony.

"Oh, hello, kind pony," said Rarity, giving her visitor a smile. "How may I help you today?"

With an evil laugh, Miles grinned as he saw the white unicorn start to become horrified. "By staying out of my way."

* * *

 _ **Several Worlds Later...**_

 _Limbo_

Once his hooves were on the ground, Miles began to soak in his newly-acquired power.

"This is incredible..."

 _You must be real proud of yourself._

The dark-colored Pegasi rolled his eyes as he heard the voice of his kinder self inside his head.

"As a matter of fact, I do... killing all of those alternate Stardusts was easier than I thought."

 _You are a monster. What would your Twilight say?_

Miles' happiness went away as he remembered what had happened to his Twilight, and he began to frown. "I don't care about that anymore... she's gone."

He then began closing all of the portals that had led to the worlds with alternate Stardusts.

 _What you are doing is wrong, Miles._

"Cry me a damn river," replied the cloaked pony, in a dry-toned voice.

 _What do you think will happen when you go up against the actual one?_

"Simple... I kill him like I've killed everypony else..."

Miles then looked at the two remaining portals left, which showed the worlds of Casey and the real Stardust.

 _You still don't even have enough power to take him on since you no longer have the staff._

"Well, I'll just continue keeping an eye on these two worlds until the time is right for me to take it back," said Miles, shrugging his shoulders.

Looking at the one that showed Stardust's world, the cloaked pony added, "He'll never even see me coming..."

* * *

 _Sunset's World_

It was around 7 a.m., and there was nothing but silence at Canterlot High School.

There was also no one there... except for one, who had just arrived at the front of the school.

"Okay, Rainbow, you got this," said the athletic teenager, standing in front of the statue that led to Princess Twilight's world. "Just step through the portal, and-"

 _"What in the world are_ _ **you**_ _doing here, Rainbow Dash?"_

Rainbow turned around, and saw Rarity, who had her arms crossed and a stern expression on her face.

"Don't tell me you were trying to go to Ponyville."

Rainbow groaned, and said, "Aw, _come on_ , Rarity, almost everybody else has met their pony counterparts! Why can't I just enjoy this awesome moment?"

"Because you might put both of our world's in danger," replied Rarity. "And you aren't going without me."

The athletic teenager's mouth almost dropped. " _What?_ Why do _you_ want to go?"

Rarity scoffed, acting as if the answer wasn't already obvious. " _Because,_ darling, the other Rarity there _wants_ me to spend a day at her boutique. The two of us would then-"

" _Gah_ , _okay, fine_ , just don't talk anymore about clothes," exclaimed Rainbow, waving her arms around so that her friend would stop.

"Lead the way," replied Rarity, giving her a sly smile.

Rainbow grinned, and said, "Well, don't mind if I do!"

She then took a few steps back, and ran as fast as she could towards the portal.

* * *

 _I gotta take a little time_

 _A little time to think things over_

Inside of the library, Casey was in the middle of a book he was reading, but he'd stopped to think about what had happened the past few weeks.

 _I better read between the lines_

 _In case I need it when I'm older_

He looked at the turtledove necklace he was wearing, thankful that he had been given it back...

But part of him felt guilty, still, for actually losing it in the first place.

 _In my life_

 _There's been heartache and pain_

 _I don't know_

 _If I can face it aga-_

Suddenly, his concentration was interrupted by a familiar voice saying, "Hi, Casey!"

 _"Gah!"_ Casey jumped up a little, his book falling to the ground. "Who are... oh, hello, Starlight."

Twilight's pupil gave him a smile as she said, "Sorry if I scared you or anything."

"No, it's fine," replied Casey. "I was just, uh, focused on this book I was reading."

Starlight replied, "It wouldn't happen to be _Daring Do,_ would it?"

Casey laughed, and shook his head. "No, not quite... why?"

"Cause that's all I ever hear Twilight and Rainbow talk about when the two of them are together in here." Starlight replied, rolling her eyes.

The young Earth Pony smiled, and said, "Well, it's not _Daring Do_... it's about time travel."

"Really?" Starlight said, surprised. "Why would you want to read about that?"

Casey nodded his head over at the deactivated Crystal Mirror time machine, and said, "Even though Twilight was able to defeat Mr. Cloaked Pony, the staff that powers _that_ machine could be dangerous if it ever fell into the wrong hooves."

"I know the feeling," said a sad Starlight, remembering the "crazy time loop" catastrophe that she'd created as a plot for revenge against Twilight and her friends.

Then, right as she finished her sentence, the Crystal Mirror began to glow, and the machine started to activate.

"Um... Casey?" Starlight said, pointing at the machine. "Is that _supposed_ to happen?"

The young Earth Pony glanced at the chart on the side, and said, "Huh, I wonder why Sunset is-"

But before he could finish, two ponies fell out of the mirror, and landed on the ground.

"That doesn't look like Sunset to me," replied Starlight.

"Well, _duh_ ," replied the human version of Rainbow Dash, although she was now transformed into a very similar version of her pony counterpart.

EG [Equestria Girls) Rarity opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was a curious Starlight.

"Oh, hello, darling," greeted the human-turned-pony. "Who might you be?"

"You mean you... don't..." Now confused, Starlight looked over at Casey for an answer.

"These are the human versions of Rarity and Rainbow," explained Casey, who was helping the athletic pony stand up. "They came from the world that Sunset stays at."

Starlight nodded her head, and looked back at EG Rarity. "Oh, well, then... my name is Starlight Glimmer."

 _"Starlight?"_ The white-colored pony said. "I didn't know Princess Twilight had a sister."

Casey tried holding in his laughter while a red hue came across Starlight's face.

"No, I'm not... we're not sisters... I'm her pupil..."

"Oh, well, my apologies, then," said EG Rarity. "I just assumed that was the case because you and her both have the word _'light'_ in your names."

"But we don't even have the same last name," pointed out the purple unicorn.

EG Rainbow interrupted their conversation by saying, "Hey, does anypony know where I can find the other me?"

"She's with Princess Twilight," answered Casey. "They're on a train right now that's headed for Manehatten because today's the day of the _Daring Do_ Convention-"

 _"Daring Do?!"_ EG Rainbow cried, her eyes growing wide. " _Awesome!"_

 _Whoosh!_

Before Casey could explain more, the blue Pegasus pony flew out the window, and having him say, "Um... okay, then..."

"Well, now that she's out of the way," said EG Rarity. "Would either of you mind showing me where Princess Twilight's castle is? I would like to see how it looks first before I visit my other self."

Starlight and Casey looked at each other, and the young unicorn said, "Er, Rarity, you're already _in_ Twilight's castle."

To prove their point, Casey opened the library doors, allowing Rarity to see the castle's hallways and decorations.

 _"Oh, my gosh..."_ gasped EG Rarity, not knowing what else to say about the beauty in front of her.

 _Huh,_ thought Casey. _You'd think they would be more concerned about the fact that they turned into ponies._


	17. Changing the Rules

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 17 - Changing the Rules_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro._

 _Stardust Balance and "A Journey Beyond Sanity" belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

 _Stardust's World - Twilight's Castle (Library)_

"You really shouldn't have teased him like that, Rainbow."

The winged pony rolled her eyes, and said, "Oh, come on, Twilight, I was just trying to get him to have some fun."

Twilight gave her a stern look as she said, "The last time that you tried that, he ended up forgetting a collection of special books that I ordered."

"Hey, that _wasn't_ my fault, okay?" Rainbow exclaimed. "Besides, if it weren't for all that, we wouldn't spend time together."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, confused. "He's always with us."

Rainbow groaned, as if her friend didn't realize what she was trying to say. "Yeah, but I meant just the two of us, Twilight, he's always with you and Spike."

Before Twilight could reply, Rainbow continued to speak. "Heck, even Fluttershy gets to see him more than I do whenever he helps her out with all the animals she takes care of, and she used to _like_ him."

Twilight kept on being silent, although her face was turning slightly red.

"And, yeah, okay, Spike is like his little brother, but with you, it's always the same thing!"

The purple alicorn frowned, and replied, "We don't always do the same thing."

" _Oh, no?_ " Rainbow challenged, raising her eyebrow and crossing her limbs as she hovered in the air. "It's always book reading, non-perfect dates..."

"With _you_ and _Rarity_ interrupting one of them," pointed out Twilight, but Rainbow ignored her.

"... and every time something really bad happens, the two of you always do the same thing."

Imitating her friend's voice, Rainbow cried, " _Jack, Jack, come back! Please don't do this on your own, we need to stick together."_

Then, she tried her best imitation of Stardust. " _No, love, I have to do this on my own."_

Twilight tried holding in her laughter after hearing that, and thought, _That's pretty good, actually._

"You get what I'm trying to say, Twilight?" Rainbow said, hoping that she finally understood her. "And where is he, by the way?"

"He's with Starlight," answered Twilight. "They went to her village so that-"

Rainbow groaned again, and said, " _She's_ his student too? I thought Sunset was his pupil!"

The Princess of Friendship let out a heavy sigh, and said, "First off, Rainbow, you _do_ know that you weren't exactly his favorite pony to begin with."

"And I still don't see why he thinks that-"

Twilight raised up her hoof to silence her friend. "I wasn't done... second, me and him are each other's special somepony, so, yeah, of course he wants to spend time with me."

Knowing that Twilight wasn't done with her lecture yet, Rainbow just nodded her head, and flew down to the ground.

"And third... I'm sorry about that."

Rolling her eyes, Rainbow said, "See? That's exactly what I..."

She stopped after realizing what Twilight had just said. "Huh?"

Walking over to her friend, Twilight said, "I'm sorry for not telling Jack that he also has to make time for his friends, aside from the time he's spent with me, Spike, and whenever he's with Sunset.

"But he also has a lot to deal with now than he did before, in regards to... you know..."

Rainbow sighed, and she nodded her head. "Yeah, I remember... how's that going, by the way?"

"He prefers not to talk about it a lot," said Twilight, giving a shrug. "Not that I don't blame him for it...

"But, anyway, I promise I'll do my best to convince him to try and spend more one-on-one time with you."

Feeling satisfied, Rainbow smiled, and said, "Thanks, Twilight, and I'm sorry for... hey, what's that?"

Rainbow was looking at the coffee table that Stardust had left Casey's gift on, except it was now unwrapped.

"It's some type of watch from a new friend of ours," replied Twilight, who was unable to see that Rainbow was playing around with it because she was putting books away. "But don't tell him that I opened it since he hasn't exactly-"

 _"Hey, Stardust! You got it working!"_

 _"Aaagghh!"_ Rainbow yelped, releasing the watch from her hooves, and dropping it on the ground... with Twilight picking it up before it could be damaged.

"Casey?" Twilight said, while frowning at Rainbow, who mouthed her apology.

 _"Oh, hi, Princess Twilight, nice to hear from you again... I mean, even though there's a Twilight already here, so-"_

Twilight chuckled, and said, "It's fine, Casey, but what-"

"Hello, Casey," said Rainbow, who was imitating Stardust again.

Before Twilight could scold her friend, they heard Casey say, " _Oh, right... you're both here..."_

Twilight slightly frowned as she said, "It's _fine_ , Casey, I already talked with him regarding what happened when he saw your Twilight... I'm not mad."

 _"Right, got it... so, um, really quickly, this is a communicator watch that allows us to talk and to see each other without using the time machine."_

As Twilight and Rainbow looked at the watch, Casey continued on. _"It's powered by the same energy that the Silver Staff has, and it can even-"_

Suddenly, there was the sound of static, and after a few minutes, Casey's voice came back. _"Sorry about that, I have to go... something happened at the Daring Do convention in Manehatten regarding my Twilight, A.K. Yearling, the Rainbow Dash of this world and Sunset's worl-"_

 _"Daring Do Convention?!"_ Rainbow cried, speaking in her regular voice. _"And A.K. Yearling is there?! She never-"_

 _"- goes to conventions, yeah... and hello, uh, other Rainbow... but you sound surprised."_

Forgetting about imitating Stardust, Rainbow said, "Well, _duh_ , me and Twilight are planning to go to the next one that's in a few weeks, and it's going to be A.K.'s first-"

"Hold on," interrupted Twilight. "Are you ponies having it today?"

 _"Yeah, and my Twilight was able to go this time since she couldn't last time."_

Twilight frowned, and asked, "What happened last time?"

 _"Well, the Twilight here had to attend a friendship summit in Griffonstone, so only Rainbow got to go, who promised her that she'd get A.K. to sign it, but she ended up not getting it signed because-"_

Casey was cut-off by some more static, and then... _"Got to go! Later!"_

 _CLICK!_

Twilight looked at Rainbow, who said, "What?"

"You didn't get A.K. to sign my book?"

Rainbow waved her hooves in the air, saying, "Hey, don't get upset, Twilight, we haven't even gone there yet!"

"Well, I am _definitely going_ this time," said Twilight, who was still frowning. "I'm sure I can convince Princess Celestia to change the summit to another date... so do _not_ think of trying to go to that convention without me."

"Okay, okay, I won't," replied Rainbow. "And don't worry, I will _make sure_ to get it signed if you're not able to-"

" _I am_ _ **going**_ _to that convention with you, Rainbow Dash,_ " interrupted Twilight. " _End... of... story..."_

* * *

Twilight's castle library was now unoccupied, due to Casey going after EG Rainbow, and Starlight helping EG Rarity meet her pony counter-

 _"Casey? Twilight? Anypony here?"_

Pinkie Pie entered the room, looking around for her friends. "I hope you don't mind if I use the Travel Thingy to go see my friends at _Smile HD..._ okay?"

Obviously, there was no response.

"Okay, great, I won't be long!" Pinkie Pie yelled, and she began to turn on the machine.

* * *

 _"Smile HD"_

When Pinkie Pie arrived back in the world that Miles had sent her to, she was surprised to see that Twilight was still reading a book by the same tree.

Pinkie was about to greet her again, just like before, but then, she heard the "fast version" of her song playing again.

 _ **My name is Pinkie Pie**_

 _ **Hello!**_

 _ **And I am here to say**_

 _ **How ya doin'?**_

Pinkie also saw another version of herself, and guessed that it was the Pinkie Pie of this world.

 _Aw, what a beautiful smile she has,_ thought the pink-colored pony.

 _ **I'm gonna make you smile**_

 _ **And I will brighten up your day**_

 _ **It doesn't matter now**_

 _ **What's up?**_

 _ **If you are sad or blue**_

 _ **Howdy!**_

Then, Pinkie saw her other self jump up in the air, with the other Twilight waving her arm to tell her "hello"...

... and the next thing she knew, Pinkie found herself back in the library.

"Huh, that was quick," said Pinkie, giving a shrug. "Oh, well, I'm sure that nothing bad happened."

* * *

 _Limbo_

"She'll thank me for that one day," muttered Miles. "Can't believe that other damn Pinkie got out."

 _I'm actually very surprised that you sent her back to the library,_

Rolling his eyes, the yellow pony replied, "I have no issues with Pinkie, aside from that damn sticky cheese... so she does _not_ deserve to see what horrifying things were going to happen at the hands of that... _freak_ who doesn't even deserve to be called Pinkie Pie."

 _Just be glad that Rainbow has no intentions of returning to "Cupcakes"._


	18. Time for Others

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 18 - Time for Others  
_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

 _By the way, for... well... continuity reasons, the actual, non-AU Stardust won't appear until he's gone through some stuff in "A Journey Beyond Sanity" that will make more sense in the sequel to this story._

* * *

 _Limbo_

As Miles continued to watch over Casey's world and Stardust's world, his inner voice began speaking to him again.

 _Don't you realize the damage that you're creating in these worlds you visit?_

"I've done no such thing," replied the sinister pony. "Besides, they weren't even a full-on story..."

 _That is beside the point, Miles. Every story has a purpose, and the changes that you've caused to all of those worlds is creating a rift in the space-time continuum that-_

"I don't _want_ a damn history lesson," growled an irritated Miles. "And I don't even care if all of those worlds explode or whatever could possibly happen... I've done what I had to do, and now I'm waiting until the time is right for me to attack."

 _You won't be able to stop him. He's not exactly an ordinary person._

Miles looked over at the portal that showed Stardust's world, and a sly grin appeared on his face. "Yeah, well, neither am I... and the day that we finally meet will be one of-"

 _Um, I think we might have a problem right now._

"What are you blabbering abo..." said Miles, but he stopped after taking a look at the portal that showed the world of _Smile HD._ " _She went back?!"_

* * *

 _Stardust's World_

 _"Are we seriously going to have a meeting about this?"_

 _"Yes, we are, Rainbow... it'll be good for everypony."_

The two ponies were now sitting inside the castle's throne room, and one by one, the rest of their friends made their way in, as well, minus Starlight and Stardust.

"Is everything alright, sugarcube?" Applejack asked, looking at Twilight. "You sounded pretty concerned while tellin' us to come here."

Twilight nodded her head, and once everypony was in their own throne, she asked, "Have any of you ever felt that Jack doesn't spend enough one-on-one time with you?"

As a slightly embarrassed Rainbow crouched down in her throne, Applejack spoke first. "Not really... just last week, he was helpin' me out with feedin' the animals and makin' some cider. He even played around with Applebloom for a lil' bit."

"And I never really did thank him for going to see the play that Sweetie Belle wrote," said Rarity, with a smile on her face. "Although I still wish he'd come in weekly instead of monthly for his mane-and-beard check up."

Twilight chuckled, and looked over at Pinkie Pie, who said, "Well, there was the time that he helped me run the bakery... that time we both made a bunch of brownies and other sweet stuff together... helping me keep a secret about the baby..."

"Um, it's okay, Pinkie," interrupted the young alicorn, nodding her head. "I think I've got it."

Pinkie nodded her head, and looked over at Fluttershy, who said, "Well, um... there was that time he checked on me after the 'bat' incident... and he comes every once in a while to help me take care of the animals, although he tries to avoid not having to hang his cloak to dry when it's time to give Angel a bath."

"Why wouldn't he?" Twilight asked, now confused.

"Because the last time he did, Discord came over for some tea, and he set Stardust's cloak on fire because-"

Before she could continue her story, Pinkie Pie was suddenly next to Rainbow. "How about you? What have you and Stardust done together?"

The winged Pegasi waited until her friend went back to her throne, and then, she replied, "Well... we did have a conversation after the whole thing with Tank going into hibernation, and it helped me not to feel so bad about it anymore."

Twilight smiled, and nodded while Applejack, who was now confused, asked, "So, is this about Jack... or...?"

Rainbow groaned, and replied, "No, this is about me telling Twilight earlier that I don't think me and him are spending enough one-on-one time together to hang out and do fun stuff that doesn't involve being with Twilight or staying in bed, or even just reading a book... instead, he's doing all of that, or being with you girls."

Rarity rolled her eyes after hearing her friend say that. "Of course he'd want to stay in bed, Rainbow... considering all that he's done for us and everypony else that we know."

"Yeah, and the fact that he's dealt with evil baddies like Nightmare Moon, Flim and Flam, Discord, Trixie, the Changelings, Tirek, Starlight," added Pinkie Pie, as she counted down the villains they had all encountered in the past.

"And, I don't think he's doin' it _intentionally_ , Rainbow," said Applejack, which made Rainbow give her a confused look. "It's probably a subconscious thing, and he doesn't even realize that he _is_ doin' it."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Rainbow.

The hard-working Earth Pony let out a sigh as she tried to explain. "Pardon my honesty... and in no way am I tryin' to make him see like a bad pony, Twilight... but it's no secret that when we first tried to be friends with him, back when Twilight was still givin' Princess Celestia her friendship letters, you weren't exactly on the top o' his list of ponies he wanted to be with.

"Plus, he always kept callin' you a ripoff of that Sonic critter or whatever it was, and when his body was takin' over by Sombra, we all heard him say that he was your least favorite."

While Rainbow slunk down further in her throne, Twilight frowned at Applejack, who shrugged at the alicorn. "Hey, I told y'all pardon for me bein' honest."

"Thanks, AJ," mumbled Rainbow, who was now trying to cover her face with one of her wings.

* * *

Once Starlight had showed EG Rarity the way to her counterpart's home, she went back to the library to take another look at the Crystal Mirror time machine.

 _I need to know exactly what we're dealing with just in case Mr. Hooded Pony shows up again,_ thought Starlight, and once she was in front of the library, she used her magic to open the doors and step inside.

To her surprise, the young unicorn found a dizzy-looking Pinkie Pie, with the machine turned on. "What the... Pinkie, what happened to you?"

Pinkie shook her head a few times to make the dizziness go away, and looked at her friend. "I was only using this check on the world that Mr. Hood Pony sent me to, and I see the same thing every time, but before I can see what my other self does next, I end up back here... it's kind of fun!"

Before Starlight could even respond, Pinkie went behind her, and pushed her towards the mirror. "Here, you try it!"

" _Aaaagghhh!_ " yelled Starlight, as she went inside, and was transported to the world of _Smile HD._

Pinkie Pie nodded her head, and said, "Yep, she's going to come right back here _any second now._ "

* * *

 _Limbo_

Miles couldn't control his laughter as he watched what Starlight was going through in the horrifying world.

 _You sick monster! How could you do that?!_

"Call it payback for her trying to stop me at the Crystal Empire," replied Miles, still laughing.

 _At least save her before Anti-Pinkie destroys the planet._

The cloaked pony rolled his eyes, and said, "Oh, _fine_..."

* * *

When Starlight came out, Pinkie Pie said, "Wow, you're so lucky, you stayed there longer than I did!"

"No... _you're_ the lucky one," replied Starlight, who had a look of shock mixed with fear on her face. "I saw terrible things... horrifying things... in fact, I'm going to my room right now to do a spell that will erase what I just saw so that I never have to remember it."

She then looked at the pink pony, and said, "Pinkie promise that you will _never, ever, **ever**_ go to that world again... _ever_..."

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," replied the party-planning pony.

"Good..." said Starlight, who was still in shock, and she began to make her way to her room. "Don't disturb me for a half hour... please..."

As she walked away, Pinkie looked back at the machine, and wondered what exactly Starlight had seen.

"Aw, well, probably not important," she said, shrugging her small shoulders.

* * *

 _Awesome as I wanna be!_

Having been able to catch up to the Friendship Express, EG Rainbow had been introduced to her pony counterpart, and she was now showing her (as well as Twilight) the song that she'd written back at CHS, via her vocals and air-guitar.

 _First you see me riding on a sonic boom._  
 _Got my guitar shreddin' up my latest tune._  
 _There is nothin' you can do to beat me._  
 _I'm so good that you can't defeat me._

Rainbow was speechless at what her EG counterpart was singing, and while Twilight was simply laying back, due to her already having heard it before.

 _Yeah, I'm awesome, take caution._  
 _Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be._  
 _(Yeah!) I'm awesome, take caution._  
 _Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be._

 _Step aside now, you're just gettin' in my way._  
 _I got sick chops you could never hope to play._  
 _When it comes to makin' music, I'm the ruler._  
 _You wish you could be twenty percent cooler._

 _Yeah, I'm awesome, take caution._  
 _Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be._  
 _(Yeah!) I'm awesome, take caution._  
 _Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be!_

Once she had finished, EG Rainbow gave a satisfied nod, and looked at the two ponies in front of her. "So, how was that?"

Her pony counterpart, whose mouth was wide open with surprise, said, "Best... song... _ever_!"


	19. A Special Connection

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 19 - A Special Connection_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance and "A Journey Beyond Sanity" belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

When Twilight finally returned to the castle, Spike was surprised to see that she was tired.

"Long day, Twilight?"

"Uh-huh," replied the young alicorn, before she released a yawn. "I had to deal with _two_ versions of Rainbow Dash... ours, and the one from Sunset's world."

Looking over at Spike, she asked, "What about you? How was your day today?"

 _[Flashback]_

 _"Oh, you are_ _ **so adorable**_ _," swooned EG Rarity, giving the little dragon a hug._

 _"Hey, you leave my Spikey Wikey alone," replied Rarity, a frown on her face._

 _"Ooh, you even have an adorable nickname!" EG Rarity cried, her face beaming with happiness._

 _As for Spike, he couldn't believe what was happening. "Best... day... ever..."_

 _[Present]_

"Eh, nothing much," said Spike, as he tried hiding his grin from Twilight. "But Starlight has been in her room almost all day."

"Really?" Twilight said, surprised. "Wow... how come?"

As the young dragon led the alicorn to her pupil's bedroom, he replied, "I'm not sure exactly... I was actually going to give her this cup of tea."

Once they were in front of Starlight's door, Twilight knocked on it a few times, and asked, "Starlight? Are you okay?"

 _"I'm fine... you can come in, if you want."_

So, Spike turned the doorknob, opening the door, and they saw Starlight sitting up in her bed, with a book on her lap.

"I made you some tea," said the young dragon, offering the cup to his friend.

Starlight smiled, and graciously accepted the warm drink. "Thank you, Spike..."

"He said that you've been in here almost the whole day," said Twilight, concerned for her friend. "You didn't work _too hard_ while taking care of Sunburst, did you?"

The purple unicorn shook her head, and after taking a sip of the tea, she replied, "It was probably just a bad day for me... the last thing I remember was coming home, talking to Casey... and that's it."

"Well, as long as you're okay, that's good for me," said Twilight, giving her a smile. "Good night, Starlight."

"Night, Starlight," said the small dragon.

"Good night, Twilight... night, Spike, and thanks for the tea."

With that, Twilight and Spike left the room, with her #1 assistant saying, "Where _is_ Casey anyway? I haven't seen him all day."

" _I'm... here... Spike..._ " The Earth Pony said, suddenly appearing in front of them, and sounding breathless. " _Rainbow... Dash... fast... pony..."_

Twilight chuckled, and looked at her reptile friend. "Spike, you mind making another cup of tea?"

"No problem, Twilight," said Spike, as he headed over to the kitchen.

Casey looked at the alicorn princess, and said, "I'm so glad that you were able to convince her to go back to Sunset's world..."

Twilight frowned, in confusion, and replied, "I thought _you_ were the one taking her back."

"No, I only took the other Rarity back," said Casey, also confused.

Twilight tilted her head to the side. "Then, who is... _Pinkie!"_

* * *

"Uh, what kind of world is called _Cupcakes_?" EG Rainbow asked.

The pink-colored pony shrugged, and said, "I don't know... you want to find out?"

Before EG Rainbow could reply, Twilight burst into the room, and cried, " _Pinkie, don't..._ oh... you're both still here..."

"Hiya, Twilight," said Pinkie, waving one of her limbs. "I was just helping the other Rainbow go home."

"Well, thanks, Pinkie, but I can take it from here," said Twilight, walking over to the side of the machine.

Pinkie became silent, for a moment, before she nodded her head, and left the library.

" _Wow, Twilight,_ " said EG Rainbow, shaking her head. "And I thought _our_ Pinkie was strange..."

"I try not to question it," said Twilight.

* * *

 _Limbo_

After seeing that nighttime had fallen in both worlds, Miles let out a yawn, and used his imagination to have a bed appear in front of him.

 _Tired, are we?_

"Hey, even ponies like me need sleep," muttered Miles, his eyelids beginning to close as he climbed into bed. "I ain't some immortal vampire."

But before going to sleep, his inner voice had one more thing to say.

 _If what you say is true... and Twilight IS gone... keep in mind that she's probably watching over you... imagine what she'd say..._

A small tear dropped down from one of Miles' closed eyes, and he said, " _I told you... it doesn't matter anymore... and she wouldn't watch over someone like me."_

* * *

 _Stardust's World - Twilight's Castle_

The alicorn princess, young dragon, and human-turned-pony were currently sound asleep, in their own rooms.

All of the lights were turned off, and everything seemed normal... but, then, in Twilight's bedroom, a white and ghost-like orb suddenly appeared.

It floated in the air, hovering above the young pony, and slowly descended towards her head, fading away as it entered Twilight's mind...

* * *

 _Twilight's Dream_

 _ **Memories consume**_

 _ **Like opening the wound**_

 _ **I'm picking me apart again**_

 _Miles grinned at the golden-colored pony in front of him. "It would seem that we've reached an impasse... you certainly are one powerful pony."_

 _ **You all assume**_

 _ **I'm safe here in my room**_

 _ **Unless I try to start again**_

 _"Yeah, and I'm about to beat the living [BEEP] out of you?,," replied Stardust, whose body was also covered in a bright energy that resembled white-hot flames. "No one messes with my family..."_

 _"You honestly think you can defeat me?"_

 _Stardust shook his head, and said, with a look of confidence, "I_ _ **know**_ _I can..."_

 _Now frustrated, Miles gritted his teeth, and stepped back as he started powering up his energy. "I'm sending you straight to Hell."_

 _"Not unless I can send you there first, [Beep]" replied Stardust, who had also decided to power up. "And this is_ _ **my**_ _world now."_

 _ **I don't know what's worth fighting for**_

 _ **Or why I have to scream**_

 _ **I don't know why I instigate**_

 _ **And say what I don't mean**_

 _ **I don't know how I got this way**_

 _ **I'll never be alright**_

 _ **So I'm breaking the habit**_

 _ **I'm breaking the habit**_

 _ **Tonight**_

 _Then, once they had both reached their maximum power level, the two ponies charged towards each other, looking like two raging balls of fire..._

 _ **I'll paint it on the walls**_

 _ **'Cause I'm the one at fault**_

 _ **I'll never fight again**_

 _ **And this is how it ends**_

 _BOOM! WHAM!_

 _Punch after punch, kick after kick, the two of them were giving their all in this epic battle, both in hopes of defeating the other._

 _ **I'm breaking the habit**_

 _ **I'm breaking the habit**_

 _ **Tonight**_

 _"Stardust!"_

* * *

Twilight suddenly woke up, taking several deep breaths, and quickly jumped out of her bed.

She left the room, wanting to check her special somepony, and once she reached the door to his room, Twilight carefully opened it...

A smile appeared on her face as she found Stardust sound asleep, his mouth mouthing a few words that she couldn't quite make out.

 _"Stardust?"_ Twilight whispered, nudging his body with her hoof.

The young pony remained silent, and as she gently traced her hoof alongside his face, a smile appeared on his face.

 _I wonder if he's dreaming about me_ , thought Twilight.

As an answer, Stardust sleepingly muttered, " _Go, go, power ponies..._ "

Trying to hold back her laughter, Twilight made a mental note to remind him of that moment, if the time ever came, and before leaving the room, she gave him a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Good night... my warrior..."

Then, once she was out of his room, Twilight returned to her own bed to sleep... unaware of the fact that the ghost-like orb was still in her mind.


	20. Things Get Worse, Part 1

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 20 - Things Get Worse, Part 1_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

 _Limbo_

After waking up, Miles had spent a great deal of time looking at the portal that showed the version of Equestria where Stardust lived.

 _What exactly are you thinking about doing? You've been watching what goes on in that world for hours._

"No need to worry," said the cloaked pony. "It's just a precaution back-up plan in case the fight with Stardust does not go the way I intend it to."

 _And what sort of plan would that be?_

As he continued watching over the portal, Miles explained, "It's a little similar to the butterfly effect... if I go back to the day that Stardust first arrived in Ponyville, and _kill_ him, then all of the memories and events and such that take place after will eventually fade away, as if they never happened..."

He then used his imagination to create a tombstone in front of him that had an engraving of Stardust's Cutie Mark.

"Then, by the time it reaches him, it'll already be too late... he'll end up like the way the memory of Voldemort did after Harry stabbed the diary with the basilisk fang."

 _Are you insane? That would literally cause severe damage to the timeline of that world... and what's worse is that you could do the same to the world you found Casey at._

"... So?" Miles replied, sounding like he could care less about what happened. "In the meantime, let's see how _loyal_ Stardust can be when it comes to helping out his new friends..."

Waving his hoofs around, Miles conjured up a black orb of energy, and his muzzle became a wide grin as it started to morph into something big.

 _Is that supposed to be...?_

"Indeed it is," laughed Miles, as his new creation began to resemble that of a dragon. "With some adjustments, of course."

* * *

Having successfully erased the memories of _Smile HD_ from her mind, Starlight felt a little better when she woke up the following morning.

 _Do I smell pancakes?_

Leaving the room, the magical-powered unicorn headed to the dining room, and found Twilight, Spike, and Casey already starting to eat breakfast.

"Good morning, Starlight," greeted Twilight. "You seem a lot better than last night."

"Yeah, the day's definitely off to a great start," replied Starlight, taking her seat next to Casey, with Spike handing her a plate of pancakes. "But I still can't remember why I ended up staying in bed in the first place."

Casey took a big gulp of his chewed-up food, and said, "Everyone has their off days... and now, we can enjoy a normal Sunday."

Starlight chuckled, and raised an eyebrow as she asked, "What do you mean _normal_?"

"Well, the other versions of Rarity and Rainbow are back in Sunset's world," explained Casey. "And my former master is trapped in that world Twilight sent him to, so I see no reason for anything bad to happen..."

Starlight was about to give her response when an unfamiliar voice (to him) appeared. _"Well, new pony, that's where_ _ **I**_ _come in!"_

Casey looked around the room, but didn't see anypony else besides the other three. "Who was that?"

 _"Discord,"_ replied Twilight and Starlight, at the same time, with looks of amusement on their faces.

And to prove their point, the draconequus suddenly appeared in the chair next to Twilight. "Well, well, well, princess, I never imagined you'd find your special somepony so _soon_."

Both Casey and Twilight started blushing, and the Princess of Friendship said, "We're just good friends, Discord..."

A sad frown appeared on Discord's face as he said, "Oh? My apologies, then... I feel sorry for you, new pony."

He snapped his two yellow-claw fingers, and Casey looked down to see that he was now wearing a shirt that read " _NOTHING MORE THAN FRIENDS"_ on the front.

"You must have pretty high standards, then, Twilight," replied Discord, while Casey tried taking the shirt off.

Seeing that he was having trouble, Starlight chuckled, and used her own magic to make it disappear.

"I _meant_ that we're getting to know each other," frowned Twilight, whose face was still red. "I never exactly _..._ "

"Ah-ah-ah, say no more, princess," said Discord, putting a bear finger to her lips.

With another finger snap, the spirit of disharmony appeared next to Casey, who almost jumped out of his seat.

"So, New Pony, how does somepony like you end up from being a slave to the hooded pony that turned me to stone... to Twilight's new friend?"

"Uh... well, my name is _Casey,_ actually," corrected the young pony, remembering what the cloaked pony had mentioned to him about Discord. "And I just decided that I didn't want to be-"

"Ah, so you reformed yourself, in a way," interrupted Discord, who then made a graduation cap appear on the pony's head. "Good for you, Casey... wouldn't want that darkness inside of you to cause any serious damage, right?"

Before Casey could ask what he meant by that, Discord looked over at Twilight. "Oh, and by the way, princess, I just remembered now that I had something important to tell you."

"And what exactly would that be?" Twilight asked, giving him a suspicious look.

* * *

 _Stardust's World_

 _"Aaagghh... [BEEP]..."_ exclaimed Stardust, putting a hoof to his forehead.

"You okay?" Twilight asked, looking at him with concern.

Stardust nodded his head. "I just felt... like... something _awful_ was about to happen... like _Equestria Girls_ awful..."

Twilight rolled her eyes, but still smiled as she said, "I get it, you don't like being there... but do you think Casey might have-"

"If Casey is having _those_ type of problems," replied Stardust, who was trying his best to not look disgusted. "Then, he's on his own... I can only handle so much."

 _"Stardust..."_

The golden-colored pony shook his head. "We've all talked about this, Twilight, I am _not_ going to Casey's world unless it's an extreme emergency..."

Twilight was about to argue with him some more, but Stardust added, "Nope, nope, nope... besides, I have yet to see that world produce any type of actual _threat_ to Equestria."

* * *

 _"You couldn't tell me about this earlier?!"_

Twilight and Spike, as well as Discord, Starlight, and Casey, were now outside of the castle... and saw that everypony they knew in Ponyville were running into their homes, or as far away as possible.

And the reason for that was because of a winged, purple-colored dragon that was coming from Sweet Apple Acres.

"I _was_ going to tell you right away," replied Discord, giving a shrug. "But I wanted to introduce myself to Casey here first... wait, where did he go?"

 _"Hey! Giant monster thing!"_

The spirit of disharmony saw where the young pony had run off to, and said, "Ah, there he is, confronting the monster."

"Just what exactly do you think you're doing?" Casey asked.

The dragon looked down at the ground, and began to laugh. _"You must be very brave to stand up to me, little pony."_

After hearing it speak, a look of confusion appeared on Casey's face. "Why do you sound like Twilight?"

"I asked myself the same exact question," said Discord, as he and the others caught up to him.

"That's because that _is_ me..." Twilight replied, frowning as she looked up at the dragon. "Sort of... isn't that right, Sci-Twi?"

"The other Twilight from Sunset's world?" Spike said, also looking up at the large dragon

The reptilian creature laughed as she said, " _I'm_ _ **all**_ _Midnight Sparkle, princess... and I came here to get that silver staff you're hiding in your castle."_

Realizing that the hooded pony was behind this, Twilight cried, "There's no way you're getting that staff!"

 _"Oh, is that so?"_ Midnight Sparkle said, a sly grin on her face. " _And how do you plan on stopping me?"_

"With the help from her friends," said Applejack, running over to be at Twilight's side.

The others (Rarity, Rainbow, and Fluttershy) weren't very far behind, with Fluttershy saying, "That's right... and you're no different than any other dragon we've met in the past."

" _That's where you're wrong, little pony,_ " replied Midnight Sparkle, and to prove her point, she started breathing out massive blasts of flame into the air.

Rainbow Dash gulped, and turned to look at Spike. "Uh... I don't suppose you can do something like that?"

Spike shook his head, while Twilight suddenly had an idea.

"Discord, take Casey to the castle, and make sure that _she's_ not able to get to it!"

"Why me?" Casey asked. "I should be helping you _fight_ that thing!"

Twilight shook her head, and said, "I need you to get some _help_... by using the _Crystal Mirror_?"

" _Oh..._ " The young pony replied, and he nodded his head. "Got it."

With that, Discord stood next to Casey, and after snapping his fingers, they were gone in the blink of an eye.

As for Twilight, she looked up at her... dragon counterpart, and cried, "You'll have to get through all of us first!"

 _"If that's how you choose to die, than so be it,"_ said Midnight Sparkle, her eyes glowing with anger.

"Yep, that's definitely not the other Twilight," said Spike.

Once they were in the castle, Casey looked at Discord. "So, how exactly do you plan on stopping that thing from coming in here?"

The master of Chaos nodded his head over to the window, and said, "I'm already working on it."

Looking outside, Casey saw that the castle was now becoming surrounded by large and spiked branches that were very similar to the ones that had come from his planted seeds.

"Um, are you sure those will work, Discord?"

Discord scoffed, and said, "Trust me, New Pony, I know what I'm doing... now, go and get that help!"

Deciding to have as much as faith in Discord as he possibly could, Casey raced towards the library, and started to turn on the machine.

However, he also noticed the wristwatch on a nearby coffee table, and remembered about Stardust.

 _I'm pretty sure this would count as an emergency,_ thought Casey. _But it seemed like Twilight wanted me to get help from Sunset and her friends._

Looking back and forth between the watch and the Crystal Mirror, the young pony sighed, and said, "Well... here goes nothing..."


	21. Things Get Worse, Part 2

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 21 - Things Get Worse, Part 2_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while the OC known as Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

 _Limbo_

Laughing in what he felt was complete victory, Miles said, "This is _way_ better than I planned... he's actually _not_ going to help him at all."

 _Well, to be fair, there is no need for him to help Twilight and the others._

 _He has his own problems in the world that he lives in, and he's not exactly fond of anything that occurs in Sunset Shimmer's world._

"Really? Huh..." The cloaked pony gave a shrug. "Ah, well, what matters is that once Midnight Sparkle retrieves the staff for me, I'll be able to unleash all of my dark magic, and send Stardust Balance to Hell!"

 _Or he could do to you what he's done to everypony else that he's fought in his world._

Miles gritted his teeth in frustration, and muttered, "I'd rather have _Sombra_ in my damn head instead of you."

 _Then that would be copying someone else's work.. and that someone could probably file a-_

"Shut up!"

* * *

 _Stardust's World_

"For the _last_ time, love, I am not... repeat, _not_... going over there."

Twilight sighed, and she said, "Okay, _fine..._ you don't have to go..."

" _Thank you_ ," replied Stardust, glad that she accepted his answer. "Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a pillow that has my-"

" _But_ I need you to do something else instead," added Twilight, walking over to stand in front of him, so that he couldn't leave.

Stardust looked at her, and asked, "What exactly did you have in mind?"

With a serious facial expression, Twilight replied, "I want you to start spending a little more time with Rainbow Dash... starting today."

For a moment, Stardust remained silent, and then, he asked, "Why would I do that?"

Twilight just raised one of her eyebrows. " _Because_ she's your friend?"

"Yeah, but so are a lot of other ponies," pointed out the young pony. "And besides, I'm sure Rainbow would just want to _fly around,_ talk about the WonderBolts-"

"You don't _know_ that, for sure," said Twilight, who was seeing that he wasn't getting it. "Tell me, when was the last time you and her spent some one-on-one time together to hang out as friends?"

Stardust opened his mouth to respond, but Twilight cut him off. " _Besides_ you comforting her when she was worried about Tank."

"Okay, fine, I can't remember exactly when right now," replied Stardust, who was starting to get slightly irritated. "I still don't get why-"

Twilight stopped him by holding up one of her hooves. "Let me finish... when was the last time you spent time with Rarity?"

"Well, there was the problem she had with Sassy Saddles..." said Stardust.

The young alicorn nodded her head. "And Fluttershy?"

Stardust thought about it for a moment, and said, "I helped convince her to not be so scared during Nightmare Night..."

"And Applejack?"

The golden-colored pony smiled as he answered, "I helped her out with some chores at the farm, and I even got to play around with Applebloom.

"And before you ask, _yes_ , I even spent a day baking sweets with Pinkie Pie."

" _Uh-huh_ ," agreed Twilight, sensing that he was almost getting it now. "Now, let me ask you this - who was your _least_ favorite pony to be with when we first met you?"

"Well, that's an easy one... Rainbow Dash," replied Stardust. "But that was a long time ago, Twi-"

Twilight held up her hoof again, saying, "I know, but let me finish... when you were, um, _taken over_ by..."

 **Way to keep things subtle, princess.**

 _Not now, Sombra,_ thought Stardust.

"... do you remember what you told Rainbow?"

"Unfortunately, yes," replied Stardust, even though he preferred to not think much about that day.

Twilight nodded her head. "Ok, great... now who was the one pony that you had trouble with, in regards to remembering a special time or day?"

Rolling his eues, Stardust scoffed, and replied in a _matter-of-fact_ tone. "That one is easy, as well... it's Rainb-"

But he then started realizing what Twilight was trying to say to him, and the young pony now had a sheepish expression on his face. " _Ohhhh..._ right."

Twilight sighed, and placed a comforting hoof on his shoulder. "Look, Jack, you know how grateful me and Spike are for having somepony like you in our lives... but there are other ponies that we know who want to show you their gratitude, as well."

Instead of giving a response, Stardust kept quiet as he let Twilight continue her _friendship_ lecture.

"In regards to Rainbow, I have a feeling that you're avoiding time with her subconsciously... sure, there have been some wonderful moments that you two have probably had together, but it's been a while since you and her have spent a day to hang out."

Stardust found himself lowering his head in slight disappointment (with himself), but Twilight quickly brought it up so that he could see her smiling face.

"You're a great person, Jack, and I'm glad that you're my special somepony... but others need to know themselves how great you could be.

 _She's right, you know._

Stardust chucked as he listened to his elderly friend, along with finally understanding what Twilight meant. "I'll work on it..."

 **Oh, I'm sure that you will, boy.**

And before she could argue with him, Stardust added, "And _yes_ , starting today, love."

"Good," said Twilight, stepping aside a little. "Remember, Jack, you're special to a lot of our friends, including Sunset and Starlight... but it's your job to show them yourself... understand?"

Stardust nodded, and he started to head out of the castle. "Loud and clear, Twilight... guess I'll see you later, then?"

"Uh-huh," replied the Princess of Friendship. "Have fun!"

Stardust chuckled, and he replied, "I'll _try_ to, love..."

Kissing her on the cheek, the young pony walked away, and once he was gone, Twilight began to remember something.

 _I wonder if I should tell him about the dream I had._

* * *

 _World of "Equestria Girls"_

As Casey stepped out of the portal, he began to speak at a fast pace. "Sunset, it's an emergency, Twilight and I..."

However, he stopped after seeing - and realizing - thatCelestia's former student was not there... instead, Casey found himself meeting two other _humans_ instead of Sunset Shimmer.

 _"Who exactly are_ _ **you**_ _supposed to be?"_

That reply came from one of the teenage girls, whose white-and-blue hair was in pigtails, and she also had on a pair of orange-colored sunglasses.

Casey gulped, and he said, "Um, well, I..."

"Oh, don't mind Sugarcoat," replied the other teenager, who had her rose-colored hair in a ponytail, along with a few aquamarine streaks. "She was just born that way."

Before Casey could reply, she had a sour-like expression on her face as she asked, "What do you even want with Sunset Shimmer anyway?"

"That's Sour Sweet," replied Sugarcoat, who had her arms crossed. "You came from the pony world that Princess Twilight lives in?"

Nodding his head, Casey replied, "Yes, and I need to bring Sunset back with me so that she can help us-"

"Oh, well, why didn't you just say so?" Sour Sweet replied, her tone back to being sweet and innocent. "We were just headed to her house ourselves... come on, I'll give you a ride."

As she started walking towards her car nearby, Casey looked at Sugarcoat, who said, "I'd hurry up and accept that offer before she decides to change her mind, and take it back."

* * *

"Uh, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash said, as she dodged another one of Midnight Sparkle's fireblasts. "How long do we have to keep her away from the castle?"

"Just until Casey comes back here with Sunset Shimmer," replied Twilight, who shot her own magical blast at the dragon's chest. "He should be talking to her already by now."

 _Whoosh!_

Pushing Twilight and Fluttershy out of the way, in order to avoid a giant fireball, Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "Well, I hope he hurries it up cause we're not exactly stacked with time here."

 _"You foolish ponies,"_ cackled the alter-ego of Sci Twi. _"Not even that pathetic human can stop me from getting that staff, and bringing it to-"_

 _"OH, GIANT SPARKLE MONSTER! OVER HERE!"_

Midnight Sparkle growled, and turned around to see Pinkie Pie a few feet away, with a tuba in her hooves.

"Uh, what is she doing?" Rainbow whispered to Twilight, who shrugged her shoulders.

The purple dragon landed in front of the party-planning Earth Pony, and asked, _"What in Equestria do_ **you** want?"

Pinkie Pie shook her head, and replied, "First of all, you have _no idea_ how to be a real villain, do you?"

 _"What?!"_ Midnight Sparkle yelled, her eyes glowing with anger. " _I could roast you right now like a turkey._ "

"Oh, I've had to deal with worser things," replied Pinkie, a smirk on her face. "And I could probably teach you a thing or two..."

Up in the sky, Fluttershy flew over to be next to Twilight, whispering, "I think she's giving Casey more time."

 _"All right, then, pony, what is it that_ _ **you**_ _could teach_ _ **me**_ _?"_ Midnight Sparkle said, looking at Pinkie with a non-amused facial expression.

Pinkie Pie waited a moment before she took a deep breath, and cried, _"A five, six, seven, EIGHT!"_

As she began playing the musical instrument in her hooves, the rest of her friends watched with confusion, and then, Pinkie started to sing.

 _ **Hey!**_

 _ **We are Number One**_

 _ **La! La, la, la, la, la, la, la**_

 _ **La, la, la, la, la, la, la, hey!**_

 _ **We are Number One!**_

"I've never heard Pinkie sing something like _that_ before," whispered Rarity.

Applejack nodded her head, in agreement. "I reckon that's a new one for a pony like her."

 _ **Now listen closely,**_ sang Pinkie Pie, who had caught Midnight's full attention.

 _ **Here's a little lesson in trickery**_

 _ **This is going down in history**_

 _ **If you wanna be a Villain Number One**_

 _ **You have to chase a superpony on the run**_

 _ **Just follow my moves, and sneak around**_

 _ **Be careful not to make a sound**_

 _ **(Shh)**_

"Well, I still hope Casey hurries up over here," whispered Rainbow, with Twilight letting out a sigh.

* * *

 _The World of "Equestria Girls"_

" _Midnight Sparkle?"_ Sunset Shimmer said, who looked shocked and afraid.

"B-but that's impossible," added Sci Twi, who was standing next to her friend. " _I was her,_ and I'm standing right here."

Casey nodded his head, and replied, "Yeah, I know, but that's what she called herself, and she sounds a lot like you... and the other Twilight..."

Sunset looked at Sci Twi, and she asked, "Should we use them?"

"Yeah, we definitely should..." replied the human version of Twilight.

"Uh, who's _we_?" Casey said, confused.

Sunset gave the young teenager a serious look, and said, "You and Princess Twilight won't just need _my_ help, Casey... you'll also need her help, and the others, too."

"What about us, then, huh?"

The three of them looked at Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet, who had now switched over to her _"sweeter"_ side. "You weren't planning on leaving us here, were you?"

"Um, no offense," replied Sunset, while Sci Twi nervously chuckled. "But I don't know how much help exactly you two could give or do for us."

"Well, _that's just great_!" Sour Sweet exclaimed, no longer sounding like a kind person.

As for Sugarcoat, she simply said, "You'd better let us help when the next story comes, then."

Casey looked at Sunset and Sci Twi, who both gave him a shrug.

* * *

 _Stardust's World_

 **I would rather find out whatever it is that Casey is having trouble with than spending the rest of today listening to that pony with a giant ego.**

"Hey, suck it up, Sombra, I promised Twilight I would do this," said Stardust, who was currently in search of Rainbow Dash. "And besides, she's right... I haven't been a really good friend to Rainbow ever since-"

 **I almost had your body in my full control?**

 _Don't worry about him, Jack, just focus on making Rainbow Dash smile and feel like you care about your friendship with each other._

 **Easier said than done, elderly one.**

Stardust just rolled his eyes, and said, "I'm _positive_ that Casey and the parallel versions of the others can handle whatever situation is happening to them right now... and it's probably not even that big of a deal."

* * *

 _The World of "Equestria Girls"_

"You know, it's a good thing you didn't ask Stardust Balance to help out," said Sunset. "He hates this world with a passion..."

 _"Hey!"_ Sour Sweet yelled, now looking annoyed.

The five of them, along with everyone else (Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy) were now by the Canterlot statue that held the portal to travel to Twilight's world.

"Well, aside from us and Sunset and our Twilight," replied Applejack's human counterpart. "But I don't really know myself what he thinks of those two."

 _"Hey!"_ Sour Sweet repeated, although this time, she said it with a sad and hurtful expression.

Sugarcoat blinked her eyes a few times before saying, "He probably thinks that characters like us don't deserve to even exist."

Casey looked at Sunset, who replied, "You'll have to ask him yourself."

* * *

Discord was currently in Twilight's library, pacing back and forth as he continued waiting for Casey to return.

Then, he stopped moving after noticing that the portal was opening itself up.

"Took you long enough," retorted Discord, as he watched Casey step out of the mirror.

"Well, there was a little, um... discussion that needed to happen," replied Casey, and Discord watched with surprise as Sunset Shimmer stepped out, as well, now back to her old unicorn self.

Then, it took only a few more seconds for Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Sci Twi to step out, which shocked Discord even more.

"You brought over _all of them_?" Discord exclaimed.

"Well... yeah, but it was something that I had to do," replied Casey. "And they have a plan on stopping Midnight Sparkle."

Discord raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Oh, they do, huh? Well, this ought to be an interesting battle then..."

Taking a look at the necklace around her neck, which contained a red-colored geode, Sunset said, "Oh, trust me, you're going to enjoy this one."

With a snap of his fingers, Discord had on a dark pair of sunglasses, and one of his arms was holding onto a bag of popcorn.

"Well, then, what are we waiting for?"


	22. Taking Care of Business

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 22 - Taking Care of Business_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

 _Stardust's World_

"So... you're serious about this, Stardust?"

The golden pony nodded his head, and said, "Uh-huh... I'm hanging out with you for the rest of the day."

Giving him a suspicious look, Rainbow asked, "Did Twilight put you up to this?"

 **Choose your words wisely, boy** , said Sombra, much to Stardust's surprise.

"No, but she did help me realize that I haven't exactly spent my fair share of _friendship time_ with you," admitted the young pony. "And I apologize for that..."

Rainbow could almost feel her muzzle drop. " _You're apologizing to me_?"

"Yeah, but don't push it," replied Stardust, giving his friend a smirk. "Still a little irritated that you told everyone what happened with the other Twilight."

Rainbow let out a chuckle, and said, "Aw, come on, that was all in good humor... had to find _some way_ to have fun wi-"

"And speaking of that, you haven't made any more bets with Applejack, have you?"

 _[Flashback]_

 _The Earth Pony looked at Rainbow, and said, "So you think that Stardust is gonna go all goo-goo eyes again?"_

 _"Uh-huh," replied Rainbow. "And it'll be in front of Twilight, too... the one here, I mean."_

 _As the two of them shook hooves, Applejack didn't look too sure about something. "I still think he's going to try and beat the hay outta you if he finds out you keep makin' bets on the two of them."_

 _"Pfffft! Puh-lease, that'll_ _ **never**_ _happen!"_

 _[Present]_

"Well, of _course_ not," answered Rainbow, with a straight face. "Jeez, Stardust, what do you take me for?"

"Hey, I just had to ask, alright?" Stardust said, not wanting to end up having both Rainbow _and_ Twilight upset with him for messing up.

Rainbow was almost convinced now, but there was just _one last thing_ she wanted him to do.

"And what would that be?" Stardust said, after she had told him this.

Rainbow started to grin, and she replied, "You and me are going to race from this spot, and stop at the front of the Everfree Forest."

 **How unsurprising... of course she would choose that.**

"That's _five miles_ , Rainbow," exclaimed Stardust, who wasn't exactly prepared for a race. "And I don't even have wings."

Rainbow rolled her eyes, and said, "I can see that, Stardust, we're going to race on the ground... what do you say?"

Stardust didn't look too sure, so Rainbow decided to give him a little "push".

"So, the human-turned-pony who fought the Changeling Queen, Discord, Tirek, and even pre-reformed Starlight can't even handle a simple race?"

Stardust gritted his teeth together, and said, "Hey, I never _said_ that I _couldn't_ race you, Rainbow... and I _can_ handle it."

"Well, prove it then," said Rainbow, giving him a smirk.

 **The old you would have already been gone by now.**

 _Don't try to tempt me, Sombra,_ thought Stardust, who took a deep breath, and said, "Alright, I'll race you, Rainbow... but no cheating from you whatsoever. Got it?"

"No problem," replied Rainbow, as she got into a starting position. "Let's do this."

* * *

As Pinkie Pie continued to sing her song about being a number one villian, a frustrated Midnight Sparkle growled, " _What in the world are you_ _ **doing**_ _?!"_

"Well, duh, I'm distracting you, ya big goof!" Pinkie replied, as she started bouncing up and down. "And look who showed up!"

Everypony turned around, and saw Casey running to them as fast as he could possibly go.

"Well, it's _about time_ ," muttered Rainbow Dash, ignoring the look that Twilight gave her.

Taking his place next to the young alicorn, Casey nodded his head in the direction he'd came from. "Sorry, but... I had to bring a _little bit of_ help."

Twilight saw Sunset making her way towards them, as well, but before she was about to greet her, the princess of Friendship noticed that her friend wasn't alone.

"Howdy, Pony AJ," said EG Applejack, as she stood in front of the hard-working pony. "Nice to see ya again."

"Um... hello, other me," greeted EG Fluttershy, walking over to her counterpart.

The rest of the EG human-turned-ponies stood in front of their own counterparts, and once everypony was facing their counterpart (except for Casey and Sunset), none of them said anything.

"Huh, you know, there's one thing I don't get," said a curious Pinkie Pie, after a moment of silence.

Twilight looked at Pinkie, and asked, "What would that be?"

"How come there's no explosion or anything?" Pinkie Pie answered, with EG Pinkie nodding her head, in agreement. "I thought a 'pair-a-docks' or something was supposed to happen."

Before Twilight could explain why, she was stopped by the laughter of Midnight Sparkle.

 _"Well, well, well, if it isn't my pathetic other half,"_ said the large dragon, looking down at Sci Twi, who no longer feared her inner dark self since the events at Camp Everfree.

"That is _not_ the real Midnight Sparkle," replied Sunset.

Twilight agreed with her, saying, "We know... but wherever she came from, we know that she was sent by the hooded pony to get him the staff."

"Well, we're not going to let that happen," exclaimed EG Rainbow, but then, she looked at Sci Twi. "Um, you won't feel bad or anything about what we do or say to her, will you?"

Sci Twi shook her head. "No, why would I?"

"Well, because, darling, that _was_ someone you used to be," pointed out EG Rarity.

 _"Enough of this pointless discussion!"_ roared Midnight Sparkle, and she began breathing out massive fireblasts at them.

Everypony jumped out of the way to dodge them, and that was enough for the large dragon to let out an evil laugh as she flew towards Ponyville, heading to Twilight's castle.

"Rarity, Rainbow, you two go first!" exclaimed Sunset, as she and Twilight helped Sci Twi stand up.

"You got it!" EG Rainbow yelled, and zoomed away to catch up to Midnight Sparkle, while EG Rarity started shooting out her own powerful blasts.

" _Dear Celestia_ ," gasped Rarity, her eyes growing wide. "Those diamonds are absolutely _gorgeous_!"

Twilight and the two Applejacks rolled their eyes, while Midnight Sparkle was about to reach Ponyville, but she was stopped by the arrival of EG Rarity's diamond blasts.

 _Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack!_

" _Fabulous!"_ EG Rarity cried, letting out a victory squeal.

Then, a rainbow-colored and spiral-shaped streak raced all over Midnight's body, causing her to spin around several times, and when EG Rainbow was done, the dragon was momentarily dizzy, with her eyes spinning around.

Seeing that everything was working so far, Sunset nodded, and said, "Okay, AJ, you know what to do."

"Sure thing, sugarcube!" EG Applejack said, and looked at her other self. "Um, you don't mind if I borrow a tree, do ya?"

Applejack shook her head, and she replied, "No problem, sugarcube, just use one that don't have any apples on 'em."

EG Applejack gave her a salute, and ran off to the nearest "empty" tree she could find.

* * *

 _Limbo_

 _"No, no, NO!"_ Miles yelled, watching with rage as the Equestria Girls were being successful in taking care of Midnight Sparkle. " _How is this even happening?!"_

 _Maybe it's because you never even considered these girls while creating her. Instead, you hoped that Stardust himself would go up against it._

 _[WHACK!]_

" _She can throw a damn tree like the freakin' HULK?!"_ The furious pony shouted, his body now shaking with rage and hatred. _"Son of a..."_

 _[Boom! Boom! Boom!]_

" _Seriously?! Explosions from Pinkie Pie!"_ Miles was almost close to reaching his boiling point. " _What... the... buck!"_

The dark energy surrounding Miles' body started to glow brighter, and he growled, " _I... will not be... defeated by these damn ponies!"_

 _Um, you_ _ **do**_ _know that you're a pony yourself, right?_

 _"Shut the hell up!"_ Miles yelled. " _Aw, you can't be seri... all those damn animals?!"_

The portal then showed Sci Twi using her own magic to fight Midnight.

 _"Damn you Twilight Sparkle!"_

* * *

So... the good news was that, because of their geode necklaces, the EG ponies (minus Sunset) were doing a real number on Midnight Sparkle.

However, the bad news was that they had somehow come closer to nearing Twilight's castle.

"Don't worry, Princess Twilight," yelled a confident EG Rainbow. "We got this _all_ under con-"

 _Whack!_

" _Rainbow Dash!"_ cried Sunset, Twilight, and Sci Twi, after seeing Midnight use her claw like a fly swatter, sending EG Rainbow to the ground.

Then, Midnight began flapping her wings at a very fast speed, causing the rest of the EG ponies to fly back, and crash into their counterparts.

"Are you two okay?" Spike asked, as he and Twilight ran over to Rarity and her EG counterpart.

"I'm fine, Spikey Wikey," replied Rarity as she got up to her hooves. "But it's like Midnight Sparkle suddenly got a _burst_ of energy!"

"She probably got it from that hooded pony who's behind all of this," said Sunset, who was now approaching them. "He must really want that staff."

Twilight frowned, and shook her head as she said, "We're not going to let that happen."

 _"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"_ laughed Midnight Sparkle, and looked down as she saw everypony gather together. " _I'll admit that you all put up quite a fight... even you, my_ _ **worthless**_ _counterpart."_

"Yeah, well, she's kicking your damn butt," exclaimed EG Rainbow, while Sci Twi sheepishly smiled.

Midnight Sparkle rolled her eyes, and said, " _For the moment, but now is the time where I roast the lot of you to-"_

 _"Um, excuse me? Worthless excuse for a dragon?"_

Midnight Sparkle and everypony else turned around, seeing the fortress of thorned branches that surrounded Twilight's castle... and above that were Discord and Starlight, who was using her magic to help her levitate.

" _You_ may think you're all that powerful," stated Discord, who was wearing an outfit similar to the one Mickey Mouse wore in _The Brave Little Tailor._ "But you've never encountered _us_!"

"Starlight, be careful!" Twilight cried, now concerned for her pupil and friend.

Midnight Sparkle shook her head, and said, _"You two don't seriously think you'll be able to stop me."_

A serious-looking Starlight replied, "Of course not... I _know_ we can!"

Down below, Spike elbowed Twilight's shoulder, and said, "See? You're a great teacher... now we get to see her in action without being trapped in a Chrysalis-made cocoon."

Twilight smiled, and nodded in agreement as she looked up at Starlight. _Wow, this is going to be such a great experience to watch!_

As for Starlight, she was preparing herself for an epic battle. _This definitely won't be an easy one, but I have a feeling that if I can distract her long enough, I'll be able to-_

" _However..."_

They all turned to look at Discord, who said, "After analyzing the situation, I think it would be best if I were allowed to make the first move, and that my friend here could go next."

Twilight and Starlight slapped their foreheads at the same time, muttering, _"Discord..."_

" _Well, since you're so willing to die so soon, go right ahead,_ " replied Midnight Sparkle.

The master of Chaos shook his head, chuckling as he said, "Oh, on the contrary, you dumb dragon..."

With a snap of his fingers, Discord chuckled mischievously as a familar looking pony appeared next to him.

 _"Another Pinkie Pie?!"_ yelled everypony except Midnight, and the two other Pinkie Pies.

 _ **Come on, and smile, smile, smile**_

 _"Ohhhh, I get it,"_ said Pinkie Pie, although she was the only one to hear the music playing in the background. "That's the one from the world that the hooded pony sent me too."

Midnight Sparkle was finding it hilarious, however. _"So,_ _ **how**_ _exactly do you plan on stopping me with_ _ **this**_ _?"_

"I'll let _her_ show you," replied Discord, and before the dragon could do anything else, Anti-Pinkie grabbed onto Midnight's wing, pulling her way up into the sky.

As they disappeared into the clouds, however, Twilight frowned at the spirit of disharmony, and said, "Hey, Discord, I think we're supposed to see what-"

"Oh, ho, ho, _trust me_ , Twilight," assured a gleeful Discord. "You do _not_ want to see what this Pinkie Pie can do."

"Aw, man," said Pinkie Pie and her EG counterpart. "No fair!"

Starlight was about to yell at Discord for ruining her special moment when, all of a sudden...

 _Crash! Boom!_

Everypony except Discord (who was smiling), Twilight, Spike, and Starlight (who were all irritated at Discord) had their muzzles wide-open in shock as they looked at Midnight Sparkle, who looked like she'd received the worst beating imaginable.

"Now, first things first is..." Discord snapped his fingers again, and Anti-Pinkie disappeared in a flash of bright light.

" _Bye, Pinkie Number Three!"_ shouted Pinkie Pie, waving her arm goodbye.

Discord then looked at Starlight, and said, "I think it's _your_ turn, now, my friend."

The purple unicorn groaned, and muttered a few words to herself as she floated down to the ground, standing next to Twilight, who was joining the others as they walked over to Midnight Sparkle.

"Any final words?" Starlight asked, who still had her horn activated with magic.

Midnight Sparkle coughed a few times before she gritted her teeth, and said, " _He's going to come back sooner than you think... and_ _ **all**_ _of you are going to pay the ultimate price!"_

Starlight paused for a moment before saying, "We'll be ready for him, then.. and we'll all take care of him _together_."

Then, she looked over at Twilight, with the two ponies smiling at each other, and turning back to Midnight Sparkle, Starlight used her magic to create a very large ball of electrical energy that covered the dragon's entire body.

 _Is that some sort of new spell?_ wondered Twilight, who wished that she had some paper and a pen with her to write this all down.

"Good bye, Midnight Sparkle!" growled Starlight, who was now making the energy ball glow as bright as the sun.

"Holy apples, that's bright," said the two Applejacks, who both used their hats to cover their eyes from the light.

The ball continued to shine brightly for a few more minutes before it exploded silently, and as the light died down, everypony saw that Midnight Sparkle was gone.

" _Starlight!"_ Twilight ran over as fast as she could before her exhausted friend collapsed to the ground. "I got you..."

"Thanks... Twilight..." said Starlight, who had definitely used a _lot_ of energy to make that spell work, and was now taking several deep breaths.

Twilight was about to say something comforting when Discord appeared in the spot where Midnight was, and said, "Ah, now wasn't that just a _breathtaking_ spectacle to behold?"

" _Seriously,_ Discord?" Applejack said, frowning at the draconequus. "Look at how exhausted Starlight is righ' now..."

"Well, _of course,_ I can see that, AJ," replied Discord. "But it would have been a _lot_ worse if I had let Starlight get into a fight with her first."

Applejack opened her muzzle to yell at him some more, but Fluttershy stepped in to say, "Hold on, I'm sure Discord knew what he was doing... and he was probably thinking about her safety."

 _"Exactly!"_ Discord said, who made a "BFF" shirt appear on himself and Fluttershy. " _She_ can agree and appreciate me more than you other ponies!"

Twilight shook her head, and said, "Of course, we appreciate your help, Discord, but next time, can you let us all in on your plan instead of just improvising?"

Making himself now wear a soldier's uniform, Discord gave Twilight a salute, and said, "Yes, your Highness, of course."

Then, he was gone in the blink of an eye, and Twilight looked over at Casey. "Good thing you didn't ask Stardust Balance to help out."

"Uh-huh," agreed the young pony. "He's probably enjoying a peaceful day in bed right now."

* * *

 _Stardust's World_

 _"Almost... there... must... reach... aaand, I'm here!"_

The crawling Stardust stopped in his tracks, and collapsed to the ground.

 **You are pathetic.**

"Not... in the mood... Sombra," muttered Stardust. "I... was not prepared for this."

A few minutes later, Rainbow Dash came over, and Stardust was now sitting _Indian style_. "Alright, Rainbow, did I prove myself? You believe me?"

"Yep," answered the winged pony. "I believed you almost two miles ago."

When Rainbow said that, Stardust was speechless.

 **I wouldn't object if you unleashed your anger on her right now.**

"You mean to tell me... that you believed me... after I ran _three_ miles?"

Rainbow Dash nodded her head, and said, "Yeah, of course"

"..."

"Um... you okay, Stardust?"

Stardust's head was shaking with rage, and it was also changing a different color, as well as being ready to explode in anger...

 _Jack... you promised Twilight._

"Stardust?" Rainbow asked, now feeling concerned for her friend. "Are you-"

The gold-colored pony took a deep breath, and said, "I... am fine... just promise me that you will _never_ do something like this again."

"Yeah, of course," replied Rainbow, who then decided to help him stand up. "So, what do you want to do next?"

"Take me to some place that has water I can drink," said Stardust. "Then I'll decide what we can do after that."

Rainbow Dash smiled, and said, "Sure thing, pal, let's go..."

 _See? Rainbow is happy, and smiling... you're doing great._

And although he wouldn't admit it to the winged Pegasi, Stardust was slowly starting to be happy about his decision on spending time with Rainbow.

 _I might actually need something like this right now..._

* * *

 _Limbo_

 _ **"Damn it!"**_

Miles was way beyond frustrated right now, after seeing what Starlight and Discord had done to his creation.

 _ **"I've been defeated TWICE by those freaking tiny horses... and I can't stand it!"**_

His hatred was so strong, not even his inner voice could get through to him.

 _ **"Well, I am NOT going to let this happen again! I WILL have my revenge, and not even somepony like Stardust Balance can stop me!"**_


	23. The Race Is Over

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 23 - The Race is Over_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

Now that Midnight Sparkle had been defeated, there was not exactly a need for Sunset and the rest of the Equestria Girls to stay in Equestria.

"Aw, really?" Pinkie said, looking disappointed. "But I was going to throw us all a victory party!"

"Can't we stay just for a _little_ longer?" EG Pinkie asked, pleading with Sunset and Sci Twi.

Sunset shook her head, and said, "We have Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet waiting for us, Pinkie... maybe some other time."

Pinkie thought about it, and nodded her head. "Okie dokie!"

Twilight glanced over at Starlight, who was still recovering from the spell she'd used on Midnight. "You think you can help show them the way to the Warrior Crystal Mirror?"

"Yeah, I think I'll be fine," said the young unicorn. "Talk to you later?"

"Sure thing, Starlight," replied Twilight, and watched as her pupil led the EG ponies (minus Sunset) into the castle.

Casey looked at the former student of Celestia, and said, "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly does _your_ geode necklace allow you to do?"

"Oh, I can see important memories of someone's mind if I'm touching a part of their body," answered Sunset.

" _Ooh, ooh,_ can you try it on me?" Pinkie Pie asked, as she bounced up and down.

Sunset immediately shook her head, saying, "I already saw twice what my Pinkie thinks about... I'm not sure if I want to see what is in _your_ mind."

"Well, what about me?" Casey asked, raising up his arm to volunteer. "I don't really have anything to hide."

Sunset looked at Twilight, who nodded her head, and she said, "Well, if that's what you want... then, okay, sure."

The young Earth Pony then walked over to Sunset, and she placed her hoof on his forehead, which then allowed her to see one of Casey's past memories.

* * *

 **[Background Music - 528491 (from Inception) by Hans Zimmer]**

 _Casey's father chuckled as he said, "There's no reason why you can't go to that Tree House, son... it_ _is_ _half of a public library, after all."_

 _The young pony rolled his eyes, and then, he blushed as his mother said, "Oh, I'm sure you two will make great friends... Just don't be late for dinner, okay?"_

 _"We'll be waiting here for you, son..."_

 _#############_

 _"Mom! Dad!"_

 _As he continued heading to his home, Casey kept on calling out for his parents, hoping that they would come out before it was too late._

 _ **"Princess Twilight! You have something that belongs to me!"**_

 _Several miles away, Tirek was destroying everything in his path in order to find the alicorn princess._

 _"Please be okay, Mom and Dad," whispered Casey._

 _################_

 _It was like a nightmare that had come true_

 _"No... no..." Casey's eyes started to water up with tears as he looked at the spot where his house was at._

 _Unfortunately, it was now smashed under a part of the ground that Tirek had cut off in order to defeat Twilight._

 _To make matters worse, Casey saw two very familiar objects that were in front of the now-destroyed home._

 _It was his father's glasses, as well as an almost-shredded scarf that Casey had made for his mother._

 _"Mom... Dad... I'm sorry..." The young pony said, and he started breaking down into tears._

 _##############_

 _"What do you have against Twilight and the others, anyway?" Casey cried. "They never did anything to you!"_

 _"Don't you_ _ **dare**_ _talk back to me, slave," yelled the hooded pony. "And if I recall, didn't you tell me that her battle with Tirek caused you to lose your parents?"_

 _Casey gulped, and said, "T-that wasn't her fault, though, it was Tirek who ripped apart the ground... and she had to save Equestria."_

 _Rolling his eyes, the hooded pony said, "And, of course, while she gets to stay at a shiny castle, you get the short end of the stick!"_

 _##############_

 _"Ah, so you've reformed yourself in a way," applauded Discord, as he made a graduation cap appear on Casey's head._

 _"You wouldn't want to unleash all of the darkness at the wrong time, would you?"_

* * *

Casey looked at Twilight, and asked, "Um... how long is she going to just stand there?"

Before Twilight could say anything, Sunset suddenly stepped back a few feet away from Casey, removing her hoof from his forehead. "Oh... my..."

"Sunset?" Casey asked, now feeling concerned for her. "You okay?"

The yellow-colored pony nodded, and replied, "Yeah, but I think it's time for me to head back now. I'll write to you later, Twilight."

Casey wanted to ask what she had seen exactly, but Sunset was already running over to the library in the castle.

"Um... did I do something wrong?"

Twilight shrugged, and replied, "It's probably different for her here instead of the world she stays at."

"Yeah, no need to feel bad or nothin', sugarcube," assured Applejack, as she and the others walked over to them.

"Oh, Twilight, I do hope that Starlight is fine, as well," said a concerned Rarity.

Fluttershy nodded, in agreement, and asked, "Um, is it alright if we all stay to make sure she's okay?"

Twilight smiled, feeling touched by her friend's kind suggestion. "I'm sure she would love that very much."

Then, turning her attention over to Casey, the alicorn princess said, "I think you should check in with Stardust and the other Twilight, just to see if anything like this is happening in their world."

"Who's Stardust?" Spike asked, curious. "You two have been talking about him every now and then since the events at the Crystal Castle."

Looking at the young dragon, Casey chuckled, and said, "He's a new friend that we've made, Spike... you two would probably get along very well."

* * *

 _The World of "Equestria Girls"_

Sour Sweet looked at Sugarcoat, and asked, in a sweet tone, "So, you really don't think that Stardust likes us?"

"I didn't say those words _exactly_ ," pointed out Sugarcoat. "I just remember seeing him a while back during the Friendship Games, and I could tell by the way he acted that he'd rather be somewhere else instead of here."

"Well, then _what exactly_ is that supposed to mean?" Sour Sweet growled, turning back to her angry self.

Sugarcoat rolled her eyes, and said, "We're probably on the _indifference_ side of his feelings - he neither likes us nor hate us."

 _Whoosh!_

The two of them watched as the portal to Equestria opened, allowing all of their friends to return back to their own world.

"Took you all long enough," said Sugarcoat, who also had her arms crossed.

Sci Twi and Sunset were the last ones to step out, and the purple-skinned human could sense that something was wrong.

"Are you okay, Sunset?"

Sunset looked back at the portal, and she said, "I'll be fine, but... now I'm getting worried for Princess Twilight."

* * *

 _Stardust's World_

It was now almost a quarter to 5 pm, and Rainbow was walking with Stardust back to Twilight's castle.

"See? I knew you'd enjoy that," said the young Pegasi, happy with the way that their time together had turned around.

 **If I had an actual stomach, I would have thrown up after it was over.**

Stardust smiled, and replied, "Alright, fine, I admit it... and I _am_ sorry we didn't do this sooner, it was just that-"

"Yeah, I know, I know," said Rainbow, rolling her eyes. "Playing the hero card, being Twilight's special somepony, and hanging out with Spike. I can see why you love to sleep."

"Well, I promised Twilight... and myself, I guess... that I would do better," said Stardust, who meant every word that he was saying.

Rainbow smiled, and nodded her head as she said, "Thanks, Star... for this awesome day..."

Then, as they approached the castle doors, she added, "And don't tell Twilight or anypony else I said this to you, but... I _am_ really glad that you're staying here in Ponyville... until Starswirl sends you to some other world, or something."

 _Oh, yes, like all of what happened here was because of me._

Stardust started to laugh a little as he thought, _It actually kind of is, pal. You_ _ **did**_ _send me here, after all._

The elderly pony's response was - _And look at what's happened to you since that day._

Stardust smiled, and turned his attention back to his friend as he said, "Well, thanks, Rainbow... until next time?"

"Sure thing, pal," replied Rainbow, giving him a salute before she took off into the skies, and started flying back to her own home.

As for Stardust, he continued to look up in the sky, suddenly finding himself counting all of the stars that were beginning to appear...

 _"So, I take it you had an eventful day?"_

Stardust turned around, and saw Starlight, who had just opened the castle door.

"More or less, yeah," replied the young pony, as he entered his home. "How was yours with Twilight?"

"It was just great, Jack," answered Twilight, who was coming from Spike's room after helping the little dragon go to bed. "She definitely learned some valuable stuff."

Looking at the bashful Starlight, Stardust replied, "Well, I can't wait to hear all about it."

"Thanks, Stardust," said Starlight, and walked away, leaving the ponies to themselves.

"Is this when you tell me the words ' _I told you so_ ', love?" He asked, which made Twilight laugh.

"I think you've had enough for today, Jack... even though _I did_ tell you so."

Stardust rolled his eyes, even though he was also smiling, and replied, "Yeah, yeah, I know... oh, so did anything happen with Casey?"

"Hmmm? Oh, right, yeah..." Twilight said, remembering what had also happened earlier. "He checked in a while ago, wondering if anything weird happened here since they had a tough situation of their own to deal with."

Stardust smirked at Twilight, and remembered what he had said this morning. "I take it that the problem had to do with _You-Know-Where?"_

Twilight continued to chuckle as she started to lead him to the library. "Oh, you're going to want to sit down for this one, Jack..."

"Just please tell me it's a better story than the other ones that you and I have gone through," said Stardust, who was not exactly in the mood for a recap that could be remotely similar to any of the events that happened in the world of _Equestria Girls._

Twilight nodded her head, and said, "I guarantee it..."

* * *

 _Limbo_

After finishing with his outburst of anger that resulted from watching Midnight Sparkle's defeat, the fire-like energy surrounding Miles' body was raging more brighter than it ever had done before.

 _"That does it... I'm tired of waiting in this cursed place,"_ growled Miles, as he watched the portals that showed Stardust's world and Casey's world. _"I am getting my staff back, and killing Stardust Balance so that he doesn't stop me."_

 _And how exactly do you plan on stopping Stardust?_

Taking another look at the portal that showed Stardust's world, Miles' muzzle became an evil grin as he said, _"By getting my hooves on the one pony that he would do anything for..."_

Pausing for a moment, Miles reached into one of his cloak's pockets, and pulled out a necklace that looked exactly like the one Stardust had given Twilight on the night of their not-so-well restaurant date.

 _"... and if that doesn't work..."_

He took a swipe at the portal, which made it spin around a few times, and once it stopped, he was now looking at an event that had occurred in Stardust's past.

 _"I'll go back in time, and kill him myself... and nopony is going to stop me."_

It seemed like everything in Miles' final plan for revenge had been written out perfectly... but the one thing that he did not yet know about was the ghost-like orb that still resonated inside of Twilight's mind.


	24. Complications

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 24 - Complications_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

 _Also, Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!_

* * *

 _Stardust's World_

As the moon shined brightly in the Equestrian sky, the four residents in Twilight's castle were either ready for bed or already asleep.

Spike was resting in his room, lying in bed while hugging his Rarity plush, and in Starlight's room, the purple unicorn was sitting in her bed, lying up against the wall as she read the book that was on her lap.

As for Stardust, he had fallen asleep in the library while reading one of his favorite books, the exhaustion of the day's events having caught up with him.

That left the Princess of Friendship, who was in her room, taking off the necklace that Stardust had given her.

Twilight placed it on top of her nightstand, and as she climbed into bed, she whispered, " _Good night, everypony..."_

The young alicorn closed her eyes, and after a few minutes, she was sound asleep, snoring lightly.

So, now, the only one that was still awake was Starlight, and the only indoor lights that were still on were the ones in her room and the library... until some of the lights in one of the hallways started to flicker on and off.

Then, a cloud of smoke appeared which was also surrounded by electricity, and it slowly began to morph into a ghost form of Miles.

 _I_ _need_ _to get that staff back_ , thought the sinister pony, who was making his way to Twilight's bedroom.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the library, Stardust was enjoying his dream until it was suddenly interrupted.

 **You need to wake up, boy.**

 _"Ugh, leave me alone, Sombra,"_ muttered Stardust, who was barely awake. _"Annoy me in the morning."_

* * *

Back upstairs, Miles had found the door to Twilight's room, and as he went inside, the first thing he took notice of was her special necklace.

His muzzle became an evil grin as he pulled out the replica from his cloak's pocket, and switched it with the real one.

 _What is the point of this again?_

"Oh, you'll see when the time comes," answered Miles, but in a very low voice so that Twilight wouldn't wake up.

He then prepared to go back to "limbo", but was stopped by the sound of Twilight's voice.

 _"Miles, please... don't do this..."_

The cloaked pony looked at the young alicorn, but she was still asleep. "What the...?"

* * *

Down in the library, Stardust was continuing to sleep, and was enjoying his dream about-

 **For crying out loud, boy... WAKE UP!**

 _"[Beep]!"_ Stardust immediately woke up, but after a few seconds, he felt a little drowsy. "I don't remember asking you to be my damn alarm clock, Sombra."

 **Oh, I'm sorry... I didn't know that you preferred sleep over the well-being of your beloved princess.**

Stardust yawned, and rubbed his eyes as he replied, "Twilight is fine... can you help me out here, Starswirl?"

 _I'm afraid that he might have a point, Jack._

"Huh?" Stardust said, now confused. "What are you talking about?"

 **I'm sensing a dark energy in this castle, you moronic fool, and it's coming from Twilight's bedroom.**

 _ **"What?!"**_

* * *

Miles was frozen in place, and now wondering why he was hearing the voice of Twilight, even though the alicorn was still asleep and hadn't moved her lips once.

 _"You're a good pony, Miles... don't do this, please!"_

The cloaked pony remained silent, and he found himself remembering the last moment he'd shared with the Twilight from his world.

"That can't be here," whispered Miles. "It's impossible..."

 **CRASH!**

Hearing a noise that was coming from down the hall, Miles realized where he was, and he transformed back into the electrical cloud, which then vanished in the blink of an eye.

################

Stardust went up the stairs, and raced down the hall, stopping at one of the doors.

He opened it... and quickly saw that it was a bathroom. "Damn it!"

 **Will you wake up, dimwit? You should know already what door belongs to the princess's room!**

As Stardust continued running down the hall, he muttered, "Hey, I can't help it if part of me is still tired and asleep from-"

His sentence was interrupted as he found himself tripping over a wagon that belonged to Spike.

 **CRASH!**

"I am going to teach that dragon about..." said Stardust, but he stopped talking after looking at a certain door that was a few feet away. "Bingo!"

The gold-colored pony got up to his hooves, and headed straight to the door, opening it to see his girlfriend, in her bed, sound asleep.

 _Seems okay to me,_ thought Stardust, letting out a sigh of relief after seeing that she was fine.

He looked around the room, not sensing anything out of the ordinary, so he quietly closed the door, and started to walk to his own bedroom.

"I thought you said there was some kind of dark energy," muttered Stardust, letting out a yawn as he became tired again.

 **Well, if you would have been a little bit faster, we could have quickly taken care of it.**

 _Leave him be, Sombra... all that matters is that no harm came to Twilight._

 **Oh, for goodness sake... sometimes I wish I never allowed myself to be in this mind in the first place.**

Stardust chuckled, and said, "You're going to be up there for a long time, your Highness."

 **Don't remind me, you dimwit.**

* * *

 _(Sunset's World - Pinkie Pie's house)_

While everyone was enjoying slices of pizza at the dining room table, Sunset was sitting on the couch, deep in thought about what she had seen while using her powers on Casey.

"Is something wrong, Sunset?" Sci Twi asked, taking a seat next to her. "You've seemed kind of... _off_ since we came back."

The young teenager sighed, and turned to look at her friend. "I saw some pretty unsettling memories from Casey's past that had to do with something that happened in Princess Twilight's past."

Twilight's human counterpart frowned, and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"I guess Casey lost his home and parents as a result from her battle with Tirek," explained Sunset, who had been told about that entire event by Princess Twilight. "I don't even think she knows about it yet."

"So, are you thinking about telling Princess Twilight what you saw?"

Sunset shrugged, and she replied, "Part of me wants to, but I'm sure there is a reason why he hasn't told her yet."

Sci Twi was about to reply, but then, EG Pinkie came over to say, "Well, _duh_ , he probably doesn't want Princess Twilight to feel guilty or anything about the fact that her battle with Tirek is the reason that he longer has his parents, or the house that he grew up in."

Sunset sighed, and looked at the special book in her lap, which was also her way of communication to the alicorn princess.

 _What am I supposed to do?_

* * *

"I told you already, Twilight, I'm fine," said Starlight, who was resting in her bed.

The young alicorn was currently writing down information on progress charts and various papers. "I know, Starlight, but after a spell like that, I want to make sure that you don't go through anything terrible or life-threatening."

"Well, I appreciate the concern, Twilight, but there's no need to go in 'overboard mother mode'," replied Starlight, with a light smile on her face. "I just feel tired."

Twilight smiled back, and gently brushed some of Starlight's hair away from her eyes. "Okay, I'll let you rest, then... and you can call for me or Spike or even Casey if you need something."

Starlight nodded her head, and watched her friend/teacher leave the room, saying, "I'll keep that in mind, Twilight... thank you."

As the young alicorn closed the door, she began walking towards the library, but stopped after hearing Spike come to her from behind. "So, how is she?"

"Tired, but fine," replied Twilight, turning to look at the little dragon. "Make sure that she has a fresh cup of tea by her bed when she wakes up tomorrow, okay?"

Spike nodded his head, and as he went to his own bedroom, Twilight continued on to the library, where she found Casey looking at the Crystal Mirror.

"Casey?"

The orange-yellow pony turned around, and after seeing who had spoken, he answered, "Oh, hey, Twilight... um, yeah, sure, what's up?"

"I was wondering how you got your Cutie Mark," replied Twilight, who was referring to the crescent moon and eight-pointed star mix on his flank.

Casey smiled, and said, "Well, it happened one night when I was a colt, and I was outside with my dad, looking up at the stars and the moon in the sky.

"I told him all about the constellations, the planets, flying comets, everything," he continued. "I've always been fascinated about stuff like that, and I wanted to share my knowledge with other ponies...

"We also saw a shooting star, and after I made a wish, I then ended up with this special Cutie Mark," finished Casey.

Twilight smirked at her friend, and she asked, "You didn't _wish_ to get it, did you?"

Casey laughed, and shook his head as he replied, "No, no, of course not... I'm kind of like an astronomer, and in regards to the actual wish, just know that it hasn't come true yet."

"Well, I'd love to find out what it was when it _does_ come true," said Twilight, standing next to him.

"You'll be the first to kno-" said Casey, but he was interrupted by the sound of his stomach growling. "Sorry..."

Twilight laughed, and shook her head as she said, "Don't be... come on, let's get your friend something to eat."

 _"Oh, ha, ha, ha,"_ replied Casey, in a sarcastic tone.

* * *

 _(Limbo)_

 _Shouldn't we talk about Twilight?_

Miles shook his head, and replied, "Not right now... I just remembered something important about Stardust."

 _And that is...?_

"He still has Sombra with him," replied the cloaked pony, who had his own incident with the former ruler of the Crystal Empire back in his world. "But I have a feeling that he won't be with him forever, so when that time comes, I'll begin having my revenge."

 _Seems like you might have to wait a long time, then. It doesn't appear that he will depart from Stardust anytime soon._

"Well, I disagree," said Miles, shaking his head. "So, until that time comes... I will allow Stardust to continue living his life... and besides..."

He looked down at the special necklace in his hooves, and said, "I'm already one step ahead of him."

* * *

 **Until then, my friends!**

 **AN:** _Hey! What are you doing?_

 **SB: What? I always say that at the end of my story.**

 **AN:** _Well, I hate to break it to you, Stardust, but this isn't YOUR story... it's mine... YOU are just a secondary guest OC character in this story._

 **SB: Am I at least getting paid for this?**

 **AN:** _..._

 **SB:** _ **Hey, don't you copy me!**_

 **AN:** _Why would I pay you? You don't even get paid in your own story._

 **SB: Well, you can't blame a pony for trying.**

 **AN:** _You're_ _not_ _a_ _pony_ _..._


	25. The Ultimate Peril

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 25 - The Ultimate Peril_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

 _ **[Flashback]**_

 _"... stay out of my way... and do not say anything or go anywhere else while I'm here."_

 _I grinned as I saw the horror appear on Fluttershy's face, which was due to the way I looked because of the dark energy surrounding my body._

 _"Fluttershy? You okay?"_

 _Ah, yes, the Earth Pony I came for... who came as he heard the sound of distress coming from the now-speechless Pegasus pony._

 _"Oh, she'll be just fine," I told him. "But as for you, that's a different story."_

 _Stardust looked at me as if I was crazy or something. "Look, I don't want any type of trouble to-"_

 _I interrupted him by saying, "Oh, there's no trouble at all, Stardust..."_

 _I then started to levitate myself above the two ponies, and used my front hooves to create a large and red-colored energy ball._

 _"... I'm just going to kill you."_

 _And before Stardust could even make any type of offensive move, I shot down the energy ball, successfully trapping him inside of it._

 _"So long, Jack..." I said, as I made electricity appear in the energy ball, with Stardust now screaming in pain._

 _Then, I began using my power to increase its strength, and watched as the young pony started losing his colors, as well as turning into a pencil sketch._

 _"Your story is over..."_

 _Those were the last words I said to this alternate version of Stardust Balance as I watched him become literally erased from existence._

* * *

"Twilight, not that I don't mind asking the other Twilight information about Stardust?, but-"

"Yes, I know, and I'm sorry, Casey, but all of this is just so amazing..."

It had now been a month and a half since the events at the Crystal Castle, as well as the day that Casey and Twilight had met the golden-colored pony who represented the balance between chaos and harmony.

Unfortunately, for Twilight, she had been unable to find any kind of pony that could be remotely similar Stardust, so she settled with a "now-very-thick" notebook that contained all of the information she'd learned about him and the parallel version of Equestria that he lived in.

The content of the notebook had been provided by Pinkie Pie, to their surprise, and the other Twilight, who had actually given the alicorn princess an abridged version of Stardust's story... keeping certain information to themselves, for various reasons.

And right now, she'd just finished explaining all of this to the rest of her friends, which included Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Starlight.

"Well, golly, Twilight," said the hard-working Earth Pony. "That's one long book you got right there."

"Yeah... and you even gave it a title?" Rainbow Dash said, looking at the written-on cover.

Twilight nodded her head, and said, "Uh-huh... _The Adventures of Stardust Balance._ "

Casey couldn't help but laugh as he heard her say that. " _Wow_ , I can't imagine what his reaction would be to that."

Twilight glared at her friend, and replied, "Well, if you'd try a _little_ harder in contacting him, Casey, then I wouldn't have to continue having you ask the other me for information about him to give to me."

Casey sighed, and he said, "I'm trying my best, Twilight, but he hasn't spoken to me since he first used the wristwatch... and Anti Twilight has told me that he's been training to-"

" _Anti Twilight_?" Starlight said, frowning at him. "That sounds too negative... how about just Princess Twilight?"

Casey wasn't too sure about that choice. "Isn't that what Sci Twi and the others from Sunset's world calls our Twilight?"

"Well, unless you have something better than that, darling..." countered Rarity.

The orange-yellow pony shook his head, and said, "Eh, never mind, I'll stick with that... but are we done now?"

Twilight closed the thick notebook, and nodded as she answered, "Yep, that's it for today, everpony... thanks again, Casey."

"Sure thing, Twilight." The young pony then walked out of the Throne Room, and headed down to the library.

 _I sure hope everything is alright with him,_ thought Casey, who was missing his new friend.

Looking at the wristwatch that he used to communicate with Stardust (or, in this case, Princess Twilight), the orange-yellow pony began turning it on, in hopes of being able to actually talk with him.

Once he reached the library doors, Casey gently pushed them open... and what he saw made his coat color turn pale.

 _"Hello, Casey... it's been a while, hasn't it?"_

"Y-you can't be here..." Casey said, not wanting to believe what he was seeing.

Miles laughed, and he began twirling around the silver staff that was now in his hooves. _"Oh, but I am, Casey... and now, it's payback time."_

 _"Not on_ _ **my**_ _watch,"_ said Twilight, who had just entered the room, along with the others.

Miles started to laugh more as he said, " _My, oh, my... thank you, Princess, for bringing everypony here."_

He looked at Starlight, and added, " _By the way, I've definitely underestimated you... that was quite an impressive spell._ "

Starlight just frowned as she said, "I thought Twilight trapped you for good, Hooded Pony."

The cloaked pony rolled his eyes, and replied, " _My name is_ _ **Miles**_ _... and you can thank your friend Pinkie Pie for allowing me to take back what is rightfully mine."_

It was now all of their turns to be shocked as Miles moved to the side, revealing the pink pony that was currently tied up.

"Hi, guys," waved Pinkie, giving them a weak and saddened smile.

While Rarity used her magic to bring their friend over to them, Twilight glared at Miles, and she exclaimed, "Pinkie would never-"

 _"Oh, not on her own accord, Twilight, I agree with you there,"_ said Miles. _"Not unless somepony took control of her body in order to get it... and with the mind that she has, I regret not doing this any sooner._ "

"Well, you're gonna regret messing with her, buddy, after we're all through with you," said an angered Rainbow.

Miles grinned, and he replied, " _That's where you're wrong, Rainbow Dash... allow me to demonstrate."_

Then, to everyone's surprise, Miles used his staff to drop down a force-field energy ball that had been above them the whole time.

"Aw, man, I can't believe we didn't notice that," exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

" _Huh, how funny,_ " said Miles. " _Your human counterpart said the same thing._ "

Twilight's anger started to rise up more as she asked, "What did you do to our friends?"

" _You'll see them all in a little bit, Princess,_ " replied the cloaked pony. " _In the meantime, I have an important question..."_

He looked at Casey, and asked, _"Where is Stardust?"_

"I don't know," answered Casey, giving him an honest answer. "I haven't talked to Stardust in weeks."

"Why do _you_ care?" Spike exclaimed. "He never did anything to you."

Miles glared at the alicorn princess, and he said, " _He took away my readers... him and all the other versions of Stardust that I killed._ "

"You did _what_?" Casey's muzzle almost dropped to the floor. "W-why?"

 _"You'll see whenever he decides to stop being a hiding coward, and face me like a man,"_ exclaimed the cloaked pony. _"In the meantime..."_

Miles tapped the ground a few times with the bottom of his staff, and in a flash of light, everypony disappeared...

* * *

 _(Limbo)_

... and reappeared inside a steel cage, except for Miles.

 _"As I said, you would see them real soon."_

The eight ponies and small dragon turned their heads to see (in their pony forms) Sunset Shimmer, EG Rainbow, EG Pinkie, EG Rarity, EG Applejack, EG Fluttershy, and Sci Twi, as well as Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet.

"If this was supposed to be some sort of an idea for a rescue mission," said Sugarcoat, crossing her two front limbs while laying back against the cage. "Then you're doing a miserable job."

Miles rolled his eyes, and said, " _Thank you,_ Sugarcoat... now, then, before we start to wait for the eventual arrival of Stardust Balance..."

He walked over to Twilight, and before anypony else could do or say anything, Miles used his staff to send multiple bolts of electricity into her body.

It lasted for only a few minutes, but as the alicorn princess collapsed to the floor, she looked just as exhausted as Starlight had after the encounter with Midnight Sparkle.

" _Just some payback for that one day of hell I spent in Townsville_ ," growled the cloaked pony.

As Casey and Spike went to comfort her, the young pony noticed that his wristwatch was now destroyed, due to Miles' electricity attack. _There goes the chance of Stardust coming to help._

"What do you plan on doing with us?" Sunset Shimmer asked, which caused Miles to give her an evil smile.

"Easy... I leave all of you here in this world where nopony can ever find you, and I take over both Equestria _and_ the world _you_ live in," replied Miles. "The cherry on the top will be getting rid of Stardust Balance... if he ever bothers to show up, that is."

Twilight almost felt like crying right now, as she laid in Casey's comforting limbs.

How in Equestria were they going to solve this catastrophe?

 _ **To Be Continued...**_


	26. Unbalanced

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 26 - Unbalanced_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

 _Limbo_

"What is it with you evil ponies and cages?" Rainbow said, referring to the fact that she, Spike, Casey, and the rest of the Mane Six were all locked inside a steel cage.

They were also joined by Starlight Glimmer, Sunset Shimmer, the human-turned-pony counterparts of the Mane Six, Sugarcoat, and Sour Sweet.

In front of the cage was Miles, who held the silver staff in his hooves. _"I'm not quite sure exactly... would you like for me to try it out?"_

Rainbow gulped, and shook her head. "No, thanks, I'm good with the cage."

Although she was still resting from the electric attack that Miles had used on her, Twilight lifted up her head to give the cloaked pony an angry glare. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

"Oh, really?" Miles said, raising an eyebrow, as well as speaking in a regular voice. "And why is that, Princess?"

"All those other ponies that you've killed," replied the upset alicorn. "Who would do something like that?"

Miles let out a laugh, and twirled the staff around as he said, "Well, that's just the way I was written, sweetheart..."

Then, his muzzle turned into a sinister smile as he added, "But don't worry, you're about to see them yourselves very soon."

 _"Not if I have anything to say about it."_

Everypony turned to the side, and watched as a fiery-blue portal appeared, with a familiar golden-colored pony stepping out.

" _Stardust!"_ Twilight and Casey both exclaimed, their feelings of happiness helping ease their pain away.

"Ah, yes, the guest of honor has finally arrived," said Miles. "I've been waiting such a long time for you.

Sugarcoat rolled her eyes, and she replied, "It's only been, like, ten minutes since you brought all of us here. You don't have a lot of patience, do you?"

 _"Thank you_ _ **again,**_ _Sugarcoat_ ," growled Miles, and he turned his attention back to Stardust, letting out a chuckle. "And how wonderful... you've already powered up."

"You're damn right I am," said Stardust, whose body was glowing the same way that Miles' own body was, except it was white-gold instead of black. "You'll pay for what you've done to Casey and my friends."

 _Holy shoot_ , thought Casey. _He's done all that in a month?_

"I'm sorry for the lack of communication, Casey," apologized Stardust, as if he knew what the young pony was thinking. "It's a long story, but I was able to hear part of what was going on when you were all in the library."

Miles began to laugh, and he pointed his staff at the cage. " _Casey_ is your friend, Stardust, but everypony else are _not_ the ones that you've grown to care for so much."

Stardust looked at the cage, as well, and a smile appeared on his face. "They might not know me personally, but in a way, they are still my closest friends, and I would do anything for them."

"Even us?" Sour Sweet asked, in a positive tone, referring to herself and Sugarcoat.

Stardust sighed, and he replied, "Unfortunately, for me, yes... but that's the farthest I'll go in regards to my own limit of tolerance, so don't push it."

Miles rolled his eyes, while Twilight coughed a few times before saying, "Stardust, wait, there's something important that we need to tell you."

The golden-colored pony gave her a warm smile, and said, "Just rest for now, Twilight, you can tell me once I deal with the rip-off of Shadow the Hedgehog."

"Well, how flattering," said Miles, speaking in a dry tone. "You come up with that yourself?"

"Hey, leave the sarcasm and all that to me," said Stardust, his face slowly turning into a serious expression. "You're going down, pony."

 _Be careful, Jack,_ warned Starswirl, from inside of his mind. _I have a terrible feeling about this one._

Before Stardust could reply, Miles nodded his head in agreement. "Your elderly friend is right... do not underestimate my power."

"Well, aren't you the smug one?" replied Stardust. "Tell you what, I'll let you throw the first punch if you think so highly of yourself."

 _Jack, please._

Miles grinned at the pony who represented balance, and said, "Alright, Stardust, let's see what you can do."

Inside the cage, Casey looked at Twilight, and asked, "Shouldn't we tell him before-"

 _Whoosh!_

Miles went straight for Stardust, and swung his right hoof towards his skull, but the powerful pony grabbed it with his own hoof, blocking the attack.

" _Whoa..._ " said the multiple ponies and one young dragon that was inside the cage.

"He even had his eyes closed," pointed out Casey.

As for Stardust, he let out a chuckle, and opened his eyes while giving Miles a smirk. "You've got to do a whole lot better than that to defeat a pony like me."

Miles began to growl in frustration. "You aren't even a pony, you humanoid freak."

"True, but I'm one that is about to beat the living daylights out of you," replied Stardust, still smirking at him.

Twilight lifted up her head again, and tried to warn her friend. "Stardust, he's not like anypony that you or any of us have encountered in the past..."

 _I'm afraid she is right, Jack,_ said Starswirl, agreeing with the alicorn. _This is one dangerous fo-_

"Hold that thought," interrupted Stardust, who swiftly blocked Miles' next attack, and he was now holding onto both of the cloaked pony's front limbs. "Nice try, pal."

Miles' eyes glowed with pure hatred, and he was about to yell at Stardust, but the Earth Pony asked, "You mind if I borrow using one of these mountain-sized boulders that you've created around us?"

" _For_ _ **what**_ _exactly?"_

Stardust smiled, and he tightened his grip on Miles' limbs. "For this."

As strong as he possibly could, the young pony swung Miles in a circle several times before throwing him into the farthest and tallest boulder.

 _Boom!_

Dusting his hooves off, Stardust grinned as he said, "I've _always_ wanted to try something like that."

He then looked over at his caged-up friends. "And now that I have some free time..."

Everypony watched as the glowing pony used his enhanced strength to break the lock on the door, and helped Casey with bringing Twilight out first.

"Thank you... Stardust..." said the tired alicorn, as the rest of their friends walked out.

Casey looked at his friend's glowing body, and said, "So, uh... this is all, er, _balance power_ or whatever?"

"Yeah, but it's a long story," replied Stardust, giving him a shrug. "For now, let's get your Twilight away from here, and to a-"

"Stardust, no, you can't..." interrupted Twilight, who was also beginning to cough. "We all have to... stick together... and find a way to... defeat him."

Stardust was about to wrap his limb around her shoulder, but he first shared a look with Casey, wanting to know if he wouldn't mind.

The Earth Pony nodded his head, and Stardust did just that. "Twilight, just leave this Tirek wannabe to me. You need a lot of rest."

But the stubborn alicorn was shaking his head. "You can't beat him... not even with your powers..."

 _"I'm afraid she may be right, Jack."_

The three of them looked up, and saw Miles a few feet away, floating in the air.

 _"I will admit this, however... you certainly put up more of a fight than the other versions of you did."_

Stardust frowned, and looked at him like he was crazy. "There's only _one_ of me, Miles."

The cloaked pony shook his head. " _I'm still surprised that not even the great Starswirl told you that there used to be other Stardusts that existed..."_

 _What is he talking about?_ Stardust thought, asking the elderly pony.

 _Now is not the time, Jack, you must let me take you all someplace safe._

 _"Oh, I'm afraid that won't work,"_ grinned the sinister pony. _"See, in here... in limbo... the world can be anything that your imagination can think of... in this case, you're in my world, and not even the power of Starswirl the Bearded can free you here."_

Stardust was about to yell at him when he realized something that Miles had said. "Wait, you said there _used_ to be other versions of me..."

"How observant," laughed Miles, whose dark energy was starting to grow rapidly. _"You'll be pleased to know that I destroyed them, piece by piece... in front of their special someponies."_

As he walked towards Miles, Stardust tried to speak, but Starswirl warned his friend again. _Jack, please, just stay still while I-_

" _Oh, I'm afraid that there isn't any more time for you to help, Starswirl."_ Miles said.

An annoyed Stardust angrily cried, "What are you talking about now?"

 _"I'll SHOW you,"_ replied Miles, laughing, and then, all of a sudden, he was gone in the blink of an eye.

"What the-" said Stardust, but before he could finish, Miles appeared right in front of him, and punched him in his chest.

 _"No!"_ Twilight and Casey cried, as they watched from their spot that was a few feet away.

Miles started letting out an evil laugh as he stepped back, watching the golden-colored pony collapse to the ground, his energy no longer surrounding his body.

 _"Hey! That was a cheap shot, you jerk!"_ yelled a frustrated Rainbow Dash.

As for Stardust, he couldn't figure out what was going on. "That's... impossible... _aaaggghh!"_

Miles, who was also standing up like a regular human would, used his left leg to kick Stardust in the stomach, making the young pony scream in pain.

"Now _this_ is what full power can do, Stardust Balance," laughed Miles, as the young pony started to cough.

"This is... a... kid's show," gasped Stardust, who also saw a few drops of blood on the ground, as well as tasting a tiny part of it in his mouth. "How is..."

"Because the _rating_ is different in this world, Jack," explained Miles. "And it allows me to do _anything_... in this case, it's killing a damn b**** like you."

He kicked Stardust again, grinning widely with enjoyment. "Your experiences and moments you've shared with these _ponies_ has made you weak, Jack... and the fact that killing your other selves has lowered your power, as well."

Miles then grabbed Stardust by the throat, and brought him towards his face so they could meet eye-to-eye. "Here in front of me is one of the strongest OCs ever to be created, and he gets taken down by a simple Houdini punch."

His smile then turned into a frown. "How pathetic."

As he tried gasping for air, Stardust cried, "I am _not..._ an OC... I'm a human being... _you're_ the fictional character."

Miles tightened his grip, and said, "You're wrong, Jack... me, you, and even Casey are all original characters..."

Stardust coughed a few times before saying, "You... do not... get to f××kin call me by my real name..."

 _"That's right... only I can."_

All of a sudden, Stardust's face began to turn pale. "No... not her..."

"Well, this is an unexpected twist," said Miles, turning to see the new arrival. "It's the brave, little princess of Friendship coming to the rescue."

Everypony turned their heads to look at... another Twilight.

"I am so confused right now," said Rainbow Dash.

Pinkie rolled her eyes, and said, "That's the Twilight who lives with Stardust in his world, while Casey is with the Twilight that lives in our world, and there's also the human version of Twilight with us that lives in Sunset's world."

Rainbow looked at Pinkie, who added, "What's not to get?"

"You let go of him right now," said Princess Twilight.

"Twilight... love... please... stay back," warned Stardust, not wanting her to get hurt.

But then, to his surprise, Miles did release him, and he started coughing while gasping for air and rubbing his throat.

While the others went to check on him, Miles began to walk over to Princess Twilight. "I just found another way to destroy him..."

"Don't you... f***in dare try to... lay a hoof on her," growled Stardust, as Applejack handed him her water canteen.

But Princess Twilight wasn't afraid. "Bring it, pony."

 _"Oh, believe me, your Highness_ ," replied Miles, looking at the necklace around her neck. " _I plan to_..."


	27. Confusion

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 27 - Confusion_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony" is owned by DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

Stardust tried to get up, but his body was still weak from the punch that Miles had delivered to his chest.

"I know it looks bad right now, sugarcube," said Applejack, who was trying to keep him from running away. "But you're just gonna get yourself hurt even more if you try to interfere."

"I... can't..." growled a frustrated Stardust. "Let... Twilight... get hurt..."

As for Parallel Twilight herself, she was currently in a fighting position, ready for anything that the sinister pony could throw at her. "Let's go, Miles, you're going to pay for what you've done to my friends and special somepony."

"Oh, am I now?" The winged pony said, a sinister smile on his face. "And what do you plan to do about it?"

"I think you should stop talking and face me so that I can _show_ you!"

Miles let out an evil laugh, and shouted, "With _pleasure,_ Twilight..."

He ran towards her, but then, for some reason, the necklace around Princess Twilight's neck started to glow brightly, which made Miles stop in his tracks.

" _What the..._?" Stardust couldn't believe what he was seeing. "I didn't know it could do that."

Neither could Princess Twilight, who asked, "Um, Jack, what is-"

Before she could finish, Miles snapped out of his trance, and fired an energy blast at the alicorn, which knocked her down to the ground.

 _"NO!"_ Stardust yelled, and he tried running over to stop Miles, but Applejack was continuing to hold him back.

"Ya can't fight him yet, sugarcube," explained the Earth Pony. "You're still recuperating from that cheap shot he gave you."

Miles walked over to the princess, with dangerous thoughts inside of his mind, but then, the necklace started to glow again, and it sent out a small energy blast that hit him directly in the eyes.

" _What the hell did you..._ " shouted Miles, who was opening and closing his eyes several times, and Princess Twilight noticed that his eyes no longer looked dark and evil as they had earlier.

 _I don't think your necklace idea is turning out the way you had hoped._

Miles reluctantly found himself agreeing with his inner voice, as well as saying, "Eh, I've already wasted enough time here... I have one world to take over, and another to destroy."

Stardust coughed a few times before glaring at Miles, and asked, "Deciding not to kill me after all?"

"If that was the best you could honestly do, then you aren't even worth killing," replied Miles, and before Stardust could say anything, the cloaked pony used his staff to create a portal, which then vanished after he jumped inside it.

Then, once he was gone, the entire world returned back to its state of emptiness since Miles was no longer there to imagine what it could be.

The cage disappeared, as well, and while everypony started walking around, Applejack helped Stardust make his way over to Princess Twilight.

"I'm sorry, love," said the young pony, a sad expression on his face. "I didn't think he-"

"You don't have to apologize, Jack," replied Princess Twilight, shaking her head. "I'm just glad you're still here."

Stardust smiled back, for a moment, but he then became serious, and looked over at Casey and Twilight. "So... anypony can pretty much do anything in here, right?"

"Uh..." The two ponies looked at each other, and Twilight replied, "Pretty much, yeah. Why do you ask?"

"Because I deserve some answers from a certain pony," said Stardust. "Isn't that right, _Starswirl_?"

Then, to everyone's surprise, a white ball of energy appeared in front of him, and it transformed into a spirit form of Starswirl the Bearded.

 _"Unfortunately, regarding the situation, yes,"_ replied the spirit.

Stardust nodded, and said, "Well, you can start by - _hey_!"

He found himself being interrupted by Twilight and Princess Twilight, who were both now suddenly well enough to walk up to Starswirl's spirit.

"Omigosh-omigish-omigosh!" The two of them cried in joy and excitement.

Everyone except Casey and Stardust found this amusing, with the orange-yellow pony speechless while the gold-colored pony smacked his forehead with his hoof.

 _"Um, forgive me, Twilights, but I think I really do need to explain what I know about all this."_

Stardust rolled his eyes, and replied, "Yes, yes, you do... have you known about this the whole time?"

Starswirl reluctantly nodded his head, and said, "Ever since the day that Casey first came to our world... and I had to wait for the moment to tell you."

"Well, now would definitely be a good time to explain what the pony is going on," exclaimed Sour Sweet, speaking in a harsh tone.

Starlight frowned at the bipolar pony, and said, "Hey, show some respect for him... don't you know who this is?"

"Well, obviously not," replied Sugarcoat. "Why would we have someone like that in our world?"

EG Applejack raised her eyebrow, and said, "I wouldn't be surprised if we did, considering all the supernatural stuff we've all dealt with."

" _Anyway_..." Stardust exclaimed, who was now getting a tiny bit impatient. "Who the hell is he, Starswirl?"

" _Miles comes from a world that is a little different than either of ours,_ " explained Starswirl. " _And unfortunately, he was seduced by an evil darkness not long after 'his' Twilight went into a coma._ "

Stardust was silent for a moment, understanding what that must have felt like for Miles. "But why does he want to kill me so bad?"

" _Those reasons I do not know yet_ ," admitted the spirit. " _But he's been successful in bringing harm to other worlds that feature alternate versions of you._ "

Stardust became confused as he asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Starswirl sighed, and he explained, " _There are other universes that contain worlds in which you are paired with a pony other than Twilight... and Miles has killed each and every one of those Stardusts._ "

Princess Twilight gasped, in shock, and asked, "H-how could he do that?"

" _By erasing them from existence, my dear_ " answered Starswirl. " _And I am afraid that if we do not fix the timeline of those worlds soon, they could all end up becoming destroyed._ "

" _Ohhhh,_ so _that's_ how a 'pair-o-dock' works," said Pinkie Pie.

Stardust took a moment to absorb all of this information in his mind, and then, he asked, "Um... exactly how many alternate worlds are there, and who am I paired with?"

" _I'm not sure if now would be the right time to say that,_ " said Starswirl, referring to the others around them.

EG Pinkie gave a shrug as she said, "We've all seen weirder stuff, Starswirl... so, tell us, please!"

The spirit looked at the gold-colored pony, and said, " _Well, there are ones that have you with a different member of the Mane Six, as well as Starlight, Princess Luna, Sunset Shimmer, and even Princess Cadence._ "

Pinkie let out a whistle, and said, "Wow, that's a lot of worlds."

Stardust gulped, and he said, "Please don't say that there is a world that has me paired with..."

 _"No, Jack, there is not one with Princess Celestia,_ _or anypony that you could think who would be worser than her._ "

Princess Twilight noticed Casey and Twilight's confused expression, and she explained, "He's not really a big fan of Princess Celestia."

As for Stardust, he let out a sigh of relief, and asked, "So, how exactly are we supposed to stop him, then?"

" _There's a power that is located in Miles' world that can help you against him,_ " answered Starswirl. " _It'll bring your power level to the same amount that Miles has... but you must fix the other nine worlds first before going to his._ "

" _Nine worlds?!_ " Stardust cried. "Why can't I just go straight to Miles' world and get this _new_ power thingy?"

Starswirl frowned, and he replied, " _Because, Jack, it can only be accepted by whoever it deems worthy, and if_ _ **you**_ _want to use it to stop Miles, then you_ _ **need**_ _to fix the other problems he's caused._ "

Stardust opened his mouth to complain, but Starswirl said, " _You know it's the right thing to do, Jack._ "

"Yeah... I know..." grumbled Stardust, rolling his eyes. "But how are we even supposed to _get_ to all of these worlds?"

Everyone else, including EG Pinkie, looked at Pinkie Pie, who was playing around with Stardust's wristwatch that had somehow fallen off a while ago.

"What?" Pinkie said, noticing that they were all looking at her.

Stardust shook his head, and said, "You cannot be serious."

" _I was actually referring to the wristwatch,_ " replied Starswirl. " _It contains almost the same amount of energy as the staff, but because of its power limit, you can only take a few of your friends with you._ "

Stardust chuckled, and said, "Well, that's obvious... me, Twilight, Casey, and his Twilight."

" _Us_?" Casey said, surprised. "Why?"

Stardust smirked at his friend, and he replied, "You technically started this ever since we met, so you're helping me finish it... and I don't want your Twilight to worry about you."

Twilight smiled, and was about to thank him when Pinkie Pie suddenly raced over to Stardust, and asked while bouncing up and down, " _Ooh, ooh, can I come along with you all, please, please, please_?"

"I'm sorry, Pinkie, but... no..." Stardust said, shaking his head. "I can only handle so much _craziness_."

The young pony stopped bouncing, and unfortunately, for Stardust, Pinkie started to give him "puppy eyes", and she asked again. " _Please_?"

Stardust was about to deny her request again, but after noticing everyone was now looking at him, and that Princess Twilight was giving him a look that meant _"oh, come on, Jack"_ , the young pony groaned as he rolled his eyes, and muttered, " _Aaauuuggghhhh... fine..._ you can come, Pinkie..."

 _"Yippie!"_ Pinkie Pie yelled, looking excited as she gave him a warm hug, and Stardust couldn't help but smile.

Twilight nodded her head, and walked over to Stardust, saying, "Alright, so before we do anything, let's take a moment to think of a carefully-executed plan so that we can easily-"

But before she could finish, Pinkie accidentally activated the watch as she was handing it to Stardust, and in a bright flash of light, the five ponies (and Starswirl, who went back into Stardust's mind) were gone.

"That pony is a real sucker for falling for that," said Sugarcoat.


	28. Helping Fluttershy

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 28 - Helping Fluttershy_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight, and the following song in this chapter belongs to 4Kids Entertainment and KOCH Records._

* * *

 _(Limbo)_

A few minutes after the five ponies had disappeared, Applejack said, "Huh, that Stardust fella actually seems like a real nice pony."

" _Ha_ , I doubt that," replied Sugarcoat, who was still frowning. "A pony like that is probably going to blow his top _any_ second now, considering what's going on."

* * *

 _"Jack... Jack... JACK!"_

Stardust opened his eyes, and stood up on all fours to see Princess Twilight in front of him, looking concerned.

He was about to say something to her, but Pinkie Pie appeared next to him, and cried, " _Hurray!_ He's finally awake!"

Deciding to momentarily wait on scolding the party-planning pony, Stardust instead looked around, and couldn't find any words to describe what he was seeing right now.

It looked like the part of Ponyville that Fluttershy resided at, except there were certain parts that weren't fully colored while others looked like they had just finished being sketched.

"What... _happened here?_ " Casey asked, also surprised. "It's like somepony being halfway done with a painting, or just getting rid of their mistakes.

 _It appears that the world is slowly being erased from existence,_ answered Starswirl, now back in Stardust's mind. _This is such a tragedy._

The former human being agreed with the elderly pony, saying, "I'd hate to imagine what the Fluttershy of this world is going through right now..."

"Well, then, let's go in her house already," said Pinkie, and she began to head over to Fluttershy's house, but was stopped by Stardust, who pulled her back.

"Just hold on a second there, Pinkie," exclaimed Stardust, giving her a stern look. "If you're going to accompany us to all of these worlds, then wait until we come with a plan to figure out how to fix the world we travel to. Do I make myself clear?"

Pinkie nodded her head, but Stardust added, "I can't believe I'm saying this to you, but... _pinkie promise_ me that you won't cause any type of trouble or get yourself or us in danger. Alright?"

"Uh-huh, cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," agreed Pinkie Pie, as she recited the rhyme to him.

"He sounds like a dad," whispered Casey, speaking to Twilight, but loud enough for Princess Twilight to hear, and she started to laugh.

"No, he's just being a concerned friend," said Princess Twilight, who then walked over to Stardust. "I'm actually surprised you aren't acting like your usual self."

"Huh?" Stardust said, confused. "What are you talking about?"

Princess Twilight smirked at her special somepony, and said, " _Well_ , usually in these type of situations, you just throw yourself in harm's way, in order to keep us safe... and you would've chosen to go to all of these worlds by yourself."

Stardust rolled his eyes, and replied, "Well, let's just say that I am slowly starting to learn from my past mistakes."

"Huh, it certainly took you long enough."

As Casey listened to their conversation, he turned to see Twilight writing down what they were saying in her thick notebook that contained the abridged version of Stardust's story.

 _"How did you even get that here?"_ Casey whispered, not wanting the other two to hear him.

 _"Doesn't matter right now,"_ answered Twilight. " _I want to make sure that I'm not missing anything._ "

Then, once Stardust and Princess Twilight had finished, Twilight used her magic to send the notebook back to her castle in Ponyville.

"So, what's the plan?" Casey asked.

Before Stardust could explain what it was, they heard the sound of a door opening, and a familiar voice cry out, _"Stardust!"_

The golden-colored pony turned around, and saw Fluttershy (of the world they were in) running over to him from her cottage.

" _You're alive_ ," cried the winged pony, who was embracing Stardust with a hug and tearful eyes. " _I thought I lost you..._ "

Stardust didn't know what to say, at first, but for some reason, he found himself patting her gently on the back. "It's alright, Fluttershy... it's okay... I'm here..."

As the alternate version of their friend continued to cry, Princess Twilight became confused. "Why is she...?"

"Well, _duh_ , Twilight #2," replied Pinkie, speaking as if the answer was obvious. "She probably thinks he's the other version of Stardust that got killed by Miles."

Princess Twilight just turned her attention back to Stardust, who strangely felt as if he _did_ have romantic feelings for this alternate version of Fluttershy... or, at least, a small part of him was feeling that way.

 _It would appear that the connection you have with the other versions of yourself is more special than you think._

Stardust found himself agreeing with Starswirl, but then, to his and everypony else's surprise, Fluttershy paused her warm embrace to deliver a kiss onto the young pony's muzzle.

"Uh-oh..." said Casey and Twilight, who both turned to see what the other Twilight's reaction was going to be.

Princess Twilight did not look amused, and she was about to interrupt them when Pinkie shouted, "Look over there!"

Casey and the two Twilights turned their heads, and the three of them became surprised because the color-less and freshly drawn areas were going back to its finished state.

"Um... I..." Stardust said, after he'd finished his kiss with her, which also caused the area's transformation to stop. "This isn't... what you think..."

 _But why did part of me even feel like I was enjoying that?_ He wondered, and his answer came from Starswirl.

 _I told you, Jack, special connection... and don't be that surprised. Our own Fluttershy_ _ **did**_ _have a crush on you once, remember?_

"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked, not understanding what he was saying. "Are you okay?"

"I'm afraid that he's right, Fluttershy," replied Princess Twilight, walking over to her. "This is a different Stardust, from another world... in which _I'm_ the pony that he's in a relationship with."

Fluttershy's eyes went wide as she looked at Stardust, who reluctantly nodded his head, and she almost felt ready to start crying again. "So... m-my Stardust is... g-gone? Forever?"

"Well, no, I don't think so," replied Twilight, who had also been writing down possible solutions in her "Friendship Problem Solving" book. "When you kissed Stardust, everything around us started to go back to normal..."

"But when you two stopped, so did everything else," continued Casey, and Stardust looked around, noticing that there was still much more work to be done.

"Ooh, how about you two kiss again?" Pinkie suggested, but then, she noticed Princess Twilight giving her a look.

" _Not happening_ ," said the alicorn princess, with Stardust giving her a sheepish expression. "Before we try anything else, could you tell us what happened when Miles, or... the cloaked pony... came here?"

Fluttershy gulped, and looked over at Stardust, who said, "I'm here if you need me."

The yellow Pegasus pony sighed, and started her sad story. "It was, um... after we'd revealed our feelings for each other, and there was a knock at the door..."

* * *

 _"Please tell me that isn't Discord," muttered Stardust, a little irritated now since their moment had been interrupted._

 _"No, I don't think so, Stardust," replied a surprised Fluttershy. "He usually just pops in here."_

 _As she went over to open the door, Stardust looked down at Angel, who gave him a finger motion signal that meant "I'm watching you", and that made the young pony smirk at the furry animal._

 _But before he could give the bunny a smart remark, Stardust heard Fluttershy let out a small squeak of fright._

 _"Fluttershy? You okay?"_

 _He entered the living room, and saw Fluttershy, looking like she was frozen with fear, as well as a yellow-and-black pony that was wearing a cloak._

 _"Oh, she'll be just fine," replied Miles, grinning widely. "But as for you, that's a different story."_

 _Seeing that Fluttershy still looked terrified, Stardust said, "Look, I don't want any type of trouble to-"_

 _"Oh, there's no trouble at all, Stardust," interrupted Miles, who then started to levitate himself above their heads, with his glowing hooves creating some type of red energy ball. "I'm just going to kill you."_

 _And before Stardust could even make any type of offensive move, Miles shot down the energy ball, successfully trapping him inside of it._

 _"So long, Jack..." He said, as the sinister pony made electricity appear in the energy ball, with Stardust now screaming in pain._

 _Then, Miles began using his dark energy power to increase the ball's strength, and watched as Stardust started losing his colors, as well as slowly turning into a simple drawing._

 _"Your story is over..."_

* * *

That was all Fluttershy could bring herself to say before she began crying again, so Princess Twilight went over to her friend, allowing the yellow pony to cry in her arms.

As for Stardust, he was now becoming furious after hearing the emotional harm and distress that Miles had given Fluttershy.

"I... am going... to kill him..."

"Well, now hold on a minute, Stardust," said Twilight, who had been writing down everything in her book. "Let's focus on fixing this world... um, okay, so kissing isn't an option... er, nope, that won't work... oh, okay, is there a type of song, Fluttershy, to describe your feelings for Stardust?"

Stardust looked at Twilight, and asked, "Uh, why would she _sing_ a song?"

"Well, because you performed a kind deed comforting Fluttershy when you first saw her, as well as allowing her to kiss you," explained Twilight. "It made everything around us started going back to the way it's supposed to be, so that must mean this world is represented by the element of kindness."

Stardust blinked his eyes a few times before asking, "So, _how_ exactly does her singing a song help?"

"Since you're technically part of this world, and Fluttershy is your love interest here, then her singing a song about her feelings or anything to do with the other you might fix the damaging darkness that Miles brought here."

Twilight looked back at Fluttershy, and asked, "So, is there anything you can think of?"

The yellow Pegasus pony started to blush as she answered, "Well, there _was_ one song I always used to sing to myself before I ever admitted to Stardust... the, um, other one... that I l-liked him..."

"Uh-huh, uh-huh, great," replied Twilight, as she continued writing in her book. "Could you sing it for us, please?"

Fluttershy nodded her head, and was silent for a few minutes before she eventually took a deep breath, and started to sing.

 _Out here in the quiet of the night,_

 _Beneath the stars, and moon_

 _We both know we've got something on our minds_

 _We won't admit, but it's true_

 _"Aww... so adorable,"_ whispered Pinkie, while she, Casey and Twilight enjoyed her performance.

As for Princess Twilight and Stardust, they couldn't believe what they were seeing, especially Stardust, who felt like he was going back into a trance.

 _You look at me, I look away._

 _I wanna tell you what I'm feeling,_

 _But I don't know how to start_

 _I wanna tell you, but now_

 _I'm afraid that you might break my heart_

 _Oh, why should anything so easy ever_

 _Be so hard to do?_

 _I wanna tell you what I'm feeling,_

 _And to say that, I love you._

To everyone's surprise, the plan that Twilight had come up with was starting to work, and all of the color and art was being restored to its actual state.

 _I practice all the things that I could say,_

 _Line by line, every word_

 _I tell myself today could be the day,_

 _But every time, I lose my nerve_

Casey was trying his best to not cry, while Twilight paused her book-writing to enjoy the performance.

 _I look at you, you look away_

 _I wanna tell you what I'm feeling,_

 _But I don't know how to start._

 _I wanna tell you, but now_

 _I'm afraid that you might break my heart_

 _Oh, why should anything so easy ever_

 _Be so hard to do?_

 _I wanna tell you what I'm feeling,_

 _And to say that, I love you._

Stardust could almost feel his muzzle drop to the ground, with Fluttershy's song putting butterflies in his stomach.

 _Why? Why do you turn away?_

 _It must be, you're afraid like me_

 _I try, but I can't pretend that I_

 _Don't feel for you the way I do_

 _Can't you see?_

 _I wanna tell you what I'm feeling,_

 _But I don't know how to start_

 _I wanna tell you, but now_

 _I'm afraid that you might break my heart_

 _Oh, why should anything so easy ever_

 _Be so hard to do?_

 _I wanna tell you what I'm feeling,_

 _And to say that, I love you._

When Fluttershy concluded her performance, Stardust said, " _Wow_... that was... _wow..._ "

"Excellent!" Twilight cried, her face full of excitement that her idea had worked, and it definitely did because everything was back to the way it was supposed to be.

"Stardust, can you actually believe that... _hey_!"

Stuck in another trance, Stardust had allowed Fluttershy to kiss him again, and after Princess Twilight's interruption caused them to break apart, a gold-colored cloud suddenly appeared next to Fluttershy.

"Wait a sec..." Twilight said, trying to take a closer look at the cloud, which was starting to morph into the shape of a pony. "Is **that** supposed to be-"

 _Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Stardust looked down at his now-beeping-uncontrollably wristwatch, and asked, "What the..."

"Maybe you should press that blinking button?" Pinkie Pie wondered, and that's exactly what Stardust did.

"Thank you, Stardust," said Fluttershy, with the golden-colored pony smiling at her, and opening his mouth to say-

 _Whoosh!_

Suddenly, all five of the ponies had disappeared just as they'd done before, in a bright flash of light...


	29. Rage of a Human

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 29 - The Rage of a Human_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight, author of "A Journey Beyond Sanity"._

* * *

The next world that the five ponies ended up at was the one where Rarity was Stardust's love interest... since they had all landed in front of her home.

"I am going to deliver some _hell_ to that damn pony," growled an upset Stardust, seeing that the new world they were in looked just as horrible as the previous one.

Twilight stepped a few feet away from the furious pony, and looked at her problem-solving book. "Alright, um... we fixed the first world, and this is the second one, so let's do-"

" _Why_ did you let Fluttershy kiss you like that?" Princess Twilight asked, who was not exactly happy with Stardust. " _Twice_?"

"There's no need for you to be jealous or anything, love," assured Stardust, who could already tell where this was heading. "And I'm sorry for doing that, but I also couldn't help it... it's like part of me was feeling the same way as the other version of myself felt."

Princess Twilight continued to frown as she said, "Well, do _not_ make this a habit, okay? I'm not exactly _fond_ of seeing my best friends kiss my special somepony."

"Er, technically, they are _alternate_ versions of your friends, Princess Twilight, so..." replied Casey, but he paused after the parallel alicorn glared at him. "Never mind."

"So, does that mean you're going to be mad at me, Other Twilight, if the other me kisses Stardust?" Pinkie Pie asked, which made the gold-colored pony roll his eyes.

"No need to worry, Pinkie..." He then turned to look at Princess Twilight. "And just know that I, myself, am not exactly enjoying these kisses... that's all coming from the other versions of me..."

Princess Twilight still wasn't completely accepting of his answer, so Stardust came over to put his hoofs on her small shoulders. "There is only one _true_ and original Stardust Balance... and that is _me_ , and _you_ have always been the one pony meant to be _my_ special somepony."

Twilight, Casey, and Pinkie all smiled warmly as they watched the two other ponies make peace, with Casey also making mental notes in his head to remember what Stardust was saying, in case he ever needed to tell Twilight the same thing one day in the future.

And Twilight was quickly writing this moment down in her _Adventures of Stardust_ book, which also vanished once the two of them had finished.

"Well, you're right about _one_ thing," said Princess Twilight, smiling at Stardust.

"And what would that be, love?"

"That it really _doesn't_ make sense for there to be _more_ of you," replied Princess Twilight, which made Stardust laugh.

"Alrighty, then... let's just fix this world so that I can get my hooves on that cold-hearted monster," said Stardust, who walked over to Rarity's door, and knocked on it a few times.

 _"GO AWAY!"_

The loudness of the unicorn's voice made Stardust move away a little bit from the door, but he shook his head.

 _Do this for your friends, Star, come on_ , thought the young pony. _And be in control of yourself._

"Rarity? It's me, Sta- _oof!_ " However, before he could finish, the door opened very quickly, and he found himself getting pinned to the ground by the alternate Rarity.

" _Thank Celestia_ you're here," she cried, as well as kissing him on his cheek several times. "I thought that cloaked pony took you away from me forever."

Stardust cleared his throat, and replied, "Well, actually, Rarity, I-"

"Oh, for ponies sake," muttered Princess Twilight, bringing her hoof to her forehead as Rarity began kissing Stardust romantically.

 _I wonder if this is how Spike feels_ , thought Stardust, who was feeling the way that the alternate version of himself on this world felt.

And just like before, their kiss was helping restore some of the world's color-less areas, much to everypony else's satisfaction.

"Um... are you feeling well, Stardust?" The white unicorn asked, tilting her head in confusion, once she had finished kissing him. "Did I kiss you wrong?"

" _Nuh-uh,"_ said a love-struck Stardust, but then, he snapped out of it. "I mean, uh, sorry to say this to you, my dear, but... I'm not the actual Stardust you fell in love with."

Before Rarity could reply, Princess Twilight came over to stand by Jack's side, explaining, "That's also the reason why we're all here, Rarity, to repair the damage that the cloaked pony did, and bring back the Stardust _you_ fell in love with."

As the three of them continued to talk, Pinkie Pie (who was a few feet away, standing next to Casey and Twilight) said, "Huh, I'm starting to wonder if that whole _pair-ugh-docks_ thing is even real."

"What do you mean, Pinkie?" Twilight asked.

Pinkie opened her muzzle to explain, but then, they heard Rarity cry out, "Oh, _heavens_... my sincere apologies, Twilight-from-another-dimension, for kissing your special somepony like that."

"It's fine," replied Princess Twilight, not wanting to spend much time talking (or even thinking) about it.

Twilight then took a moment to clear her throat, and say, "Okay, then, Stardust, you have to show or express generosity in some way to Rarity."

"Uhhh..." Stardust said, trying to wonder what he could possibly do in order to-

" _Ooh, ooh, me, me, me_!" Pinkie Pie yelled, bouncing up and down while raising her left arm, like a student would do when he or she had a solution.

Stardust smirked, and replied, " _Yes_ , Pinkie Pie?"

"Why don't you give her the cloak you're wearing so that she can give it to the other you when he comes back?"

"My... _what_?" Stardust looked at the piece of clothing that he'd gotten from the Rarity of his world, and had kept it ever since then.

Rarity started to smile as she nodded, agreeing with the pink pony. "Now that you mention it, Pinkie... I'm sure my Stardust would just _love_ to wear that, um, unique cloak."

"But..." Stardust continued to look at his cloak. It had been through so much, and was part of so many memories.

"Jack, I know this looks bad," said Princess Twilight, placing a hoof on his shoulder. "But it's probably the only way that we'll be able to save this world."

While Stardust looked at the young alicorn, Pinkie added, "Plus, the sooner we fix the other seven worlds, the closer you get to Miles' world, find that super power thingy, and beat the frosting out of him."

The young Earth Pony couldn't help but chuckle at Pinkie's last sentence, and also realised that his friends were right.

"Well... just..." Stardust said, as he began to remove the cloak off of his body. "Make sure that your version of me puts this to good use."

A grateful-looking Rarity smiled at Stardust, as she accepted the cloak from him. "I give you my word, Other Stardust... thank you for your generosity."

Once the cloak had left from Stardust's hooves, the world around them began to return to its original state, and Twilight happily checked _RariDust_ off of her checklist.

"You're welcome," replied Stardust, but before he could say more, the wristwatch started beeping again. "Well, on to the next one."

"Aw, but I wanted to see the other Stardust appear," Pinkie cried, as she walked over to join her friends, and after the golden pony pressed the blinking button, they were quickly taken to the next world.

* * *

 _Miles' World_

While everything appeared to be going in the right direction for Stardust and the others, it was definitely not turning out so well for Miles.

 _"How in the hell is he doing this?"_ The cloaked pony shouted, enraged at the fact that Stardust already restored two worlds. _"This wasn't supposed to happen!"_

 _Perhaps this is a sign to stop your madness, Miles,_ suggested his inner voice that also represented his goodness. _If not for anypony else, do it for Twilight._

 _ **"Enough!"**_ Miles exclaimed, whose body was now being controlled by the dark spirit inside of him... although his eyes still remained their original color.

As the portal in front of him showed what was happening to the group of ponies, Miles began to let out an evil laugh. _**"I think it's time for me to pay a visit to Stardust's world."**_

* * *

 _"Pinkie Dust" World_

Casey walked over to Stardust, and asked, "Are you going to be okay, man?"

"Yeah, uh... I'll be good," replied Stardust, even though he still looked sad. "It's just that I've worn that cloak for a _very_ long time, and... believe it or not, it's helped me out in the past."

He then turned to look at Pinkie after noticing that she looked a little guilty.

"Wow, Stardust, I didn't know it meant that much to you," said the saddened pony. "I wouldn't have suggested you giving it up if I'd have known that."

Stardust chuckled, and shook his head. "It'll be fine, Pinkie... it was really just a piece of fabric... my friends and family mean more to me than that."

Pinkie Pie nodded her head, understanding what he was saying to her. "So, then... you _don't_ want the exact same one I found in the Other Rarity's place?"

She then held up the exact same cloak that belonged to Stardust, except it wasn't so worn out and "battle aged", and the human-turned-pony couldn't believe it. "W-what... how did..."

"Um, I think we've all learned at this point to _not_ question Pinkie Pie," replied Casey, with both of the Twilights nodding in agreement.

As for Pinkie, she explained that while Other Rarity had been told about what was going on by Princess Twilight and Stardust, Pinkie had entered the white unicorn's home (since the door had been left open), and found the cloak underneath a coffee table.

"So, you want it or do I have to take it back?"

Stardust quickly shook his head, politely taking it from Pinkie, and started to put it back on. "Thanks, Pinkie... and now it's going to make me feel bad when I ask you if you don't mind staying out here."

Pinkie's smile disappeared, and she now looked shocked. "What?"

"I'm afraid he's right, someone has to stay here with you, Pinkie," said Princess Twilight, as the five of them all stood in front of Sugarcube Corner.

And, of course, certain parts of the world around them were literally being erased.

" _What_?" Pinkie cried, surprised. "How come I can't go in there with you?"

Princess Twilight sighed, and replied, "We just don't want the other Pinkie to think you're a clone or anything... besides, at the rate we're going, we won't even take long."

 _ **"Oh, Twilight, ever the optimist..."**_

The group of ponies turned around, and saw a portal that showed Miles, in a location that looked like Sweet Apple Acres. _**"You're supposed to be on your deathbed, Stardust."**_

"Well, you can't somepony like me down for long," smirked Stardust, as he faced his new nemesis. "And, by the way, I want a rematch."

 _ **"Ha! You can't be serious,"**_ laughed Miles. _**"I nearly ended your pathetic life, and you want to face me again? What will the difference be?"**_

Stardust frowned, and he said, "It'll be the fact that you pissed me the hell off, Miles, and once I get my hooves on you, I swear to God that I'm going to knock each and every single one of your teeth down your throat."

 _And, now he's back to his old self_ , thought Princess Twilight.

 _ **"Wow, I can feel a chill tingling down my spine,"**_ said Miles, with an unamused facial expression.

"You'll be lucky if I decide _not_ to break your spine," growled Stardust.

Miles rolled his eyes, and said, _**"You should've just stayed in limbo, Jackie... and now, you're going to regret messing up my plan."**_

He then moved out of sight, and the group of ponies saw [the AJBS versions of] Applejack and Applebloom, who were both tied to an apple tree.

"Don't you worry 'bout us, Star," cried Applejack. "We ain't scared of this bully!"

Applebloom, however, took a small gulp, and said, "I'm actually a lil' bit scared right now, Big Sis."

Princess Twilight was speechless, while Stardust exclaimed, "I swear, Miles, if you even lay one of your damn hooves on them..."

 _ **"Then, stop your pathetic attempt at being a hero, and leave my handiwork alone."**_

 _"Handiwork?!"_ Princess Twilight yelled, also starting to become angry. "You should be ashamed for causing all of this unnecessary damage to these worlds!"

 _ **"I don't recall asking for**_ _ **your**_ _ **opinion, you filthy little mule."**_

When Miles said that, Princess Twilight became speechless, while Stardust was nearing his boiling point. "You are so [BEEP], Miles... and I'm not going to stop what we're doing... because once everything is fixed, and you decide to be brave enough to face me, I'm sending you back to whatever Hell you came from."

After that, nopony spoke a word... for a moment or two... _until_...

 _ **"Do your worst, you pathetic excuse for a character."**_

Then, the group of ponies watched as Miles came back into view, and used his staff to send multiple red-colored energy blasts at Applejack and Applebloom, causing a small explosion of red smoke to appear...

"You turned them into apples?" Pinkie said, referring to the fact that there were now two apples where the two Earth ponies were supposed to be.

Stardust was about ready to explode in a furious rage, but then, as he watched Miles step closer to the pair of apples, he realized what the sinister pony was about to do.

" _Miles! Don't you even think about-"_

 _ **"Too late, Jackie... now you'll have this on your conscience."**_

The cloaked pony then transformed the staff into a big mallet.

 _"God [BEEP-BEEP-BEEP], Miles, stop this now!"_ Stardust yelled, giving him one last chance.

Miles turned to look at them, and Princess Twilight noticed that only his eyes did not appear to be consumed by darkness.

 _ **"This is what happens when you choose to be a hero."**_

Then, right before the portal disappeared, the last thing they saw was Miles bringing the mallet down on the pair of helpless apples.

Casey, Twilight, and Pinkie were all speechless, while Princess Twilight was shocked and horrified.

As for Stardust, there were no words to explain what was going on inside his mind... only that he was gritting his teeth in frustration, and looked like he was about to explode in anger any second now.

His body was shaking with rage, and-

 _Whoosh!_

" _Pinkie, stop!"_ yelled Princess Twilight, and the pink pony quickly shut off the firefighter water hose that she was currently holding in her hooves... while Stardust was now soaking wet.

Everypony looked at her, and Pinkie Pie simply shrugged. "He looked like he was burning up."


	30. Speeding Things Up

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 30 - Speeding Things Up_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, and Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

 _Also, "Reach for the Stars" belongs to SEGA, and "Hey Driver" belongs to Lucky Boys Confusion._

* * *

Once Stardust had finished using a towel that Pinkie had given him to dry himself off, he asked Casey, "Are you able to use your wristwatch?

The Earth Pony looked at the object that was strapped onto his arm, which was still sending out a few sparks of electricity.

"Um..." Casey said, not looking so sure. "I don't think it's safe for me to use it right now."

Stardust sighed, and he looked up at the sky, as if he was looking at somepony.

"Think you can take them back, Starswirl?"

 _I could try, but I'm not entirely sure that would be a wise choice._

"Whoa, whoa, whoa... _whoa_ ," exclaimed Princess Twilight, hoping that he wasn't suggesting what she thought he was. "What do you mean, _take us back_?"

A serious-looking Stardust brought his head down to face Princess Twilight, and said, "I'm doing the rest of this stuff on my own, Twilight... it's safer this way."

"Nuh-uh, no way, Jack," said Princess Twilight, starting to frown. "We're all in this together... you need our help."

"Don't try and change my mind, love," exclaimed Stardust. "I have to do this _alone_."

His girlfriend shook her head, saying, "There's no way I'm going to just watch helplessly from the sidelines while you-"

"I'm _telling_ you, Twilight, to go with them, and stay with the others in _limbo_ ," growled Stardust, adding some edge to his voice.

Pinkie Pie walked over to Twilight, and whispered, "Should I wet him again?"

" _Nothing_ bad is going to happen to me, Jack," argued Princess Twilight. "Not as long as we stick together 'till the end of this... why do you want me to leave?"

A frustrated Stardust cried, "Just _leave_ , Twilight... I'm doing this for your own good!"

He then started walking over to Sugarcube Corner, but Princess Twilight ran around him, and stood in front of the gold pony. "You _can't_ face him alone, Jack... you need us."

"No, I _don't,_ Twilight, can't you understand that?" Stardust cried, his eyes starting to water. "I've already cost us Applebloom and AJ, and now-"

"No, Jack, they can't be dead," replied Princess Twilight, shaking her head. "He's just trying to mess with your mind, to trick you into getting yourself in a dangerous situation that'll get _you_ killed!"

"I know what I saw, Twilight, and what I'm feeling right now," exclaimed Stardust. "Now, for the last time, I am _telling_ you to _leave_!"

Princess Twilight shook her head. "And I'm _telling_ you that we're all staying together. He almost _killed_ you, Jack!"

"And since I'm not _dead_ , he's taken away two of our closest friends," replied Stardust, who was almost on the verge of tears. "Why aren't you more upset about this?"

"Because I think I would _know_ if two of my closest friends were gone," said the young alicorn. "Now, _why_ do you want me to go?"

The frustrated pony brought his hooves to his head, saying, "I'm... I can't... I'm not strong enough..."

"And you think finishing this on your own will make you _stronger_?"

" _Yes... I mean, no... I don't know,_ " cried Stardust. " _Just go!"_

"I am _not_ leaving you, Jack," cried Princess Twilight. "Why do you want me to-"

Before she could finish, Stardust gritted his teeth in frustration, and yelled, " _I don't want to lose you again!"_

Hearing that made Princess Twilight speechless, and as Stardust collapsed to the floor, he said, in a more calm but sad voice, "I can't... I already lost you once, love... I'm not... s-strong enough... to handle losing you... I can't..."

He hung his head down, and the young alicorn saw a few of his tears hit the ground. "I couldn't protect them... I couldn't... save them... I can't... lose you, too..."

Princess Twilight was about to speak, but then, Twilight came over to try and comfort Stardust. "Um, Star? I think she's right about the, er, mind game thing... I don't think they're dead, either.'

Pinkie Pie nodded her head, and said, "Yup, it's like when a magician _pretends_ to show his audience that he actually made the elephant disappear, but the truth is that he's actually using a double sided mirror or secrer trap door to make it look like the elephant really _did_ vanish into thin air."

Stardust didn't know what to say to that, but he was starting to get mixed feelings. "What... I..."

"Pinkie's right, too, Stardust," agreed Casey, also joining in on the conversation. "He _wants_ you to be alone because he knows you'll try to send us all back... but I'm not leaving until we fix the other seven worlds, and get you to that special power so you can put an end to Miles' plan."

"Uh-huh, and so do I," replied an enthusiastic Pinkie Pie.

Twilight nodded her head, as well, and looked at her parallel counterpart, who said, "We've all come this far, Jack... why not keep going?"

Stardust just looked at all of them, and wiped his eyes while saying, "Okay, _fine_ , let's keep this adventure going... but at a faster pace because now I _really_ want to get my hands on that damn pony."

"Uh, I think you mean _hooves_ ," corrected Casey.

Then, before Stardust could answer back, Pinkie Pie's body started to shake.

" _Whoooaaaa..._ " said the vibrating pony, now going through her "pinkie sense" phase. "Ears flapping, tail twitching, right eye flutter, back flip, and eyes rolling!"

Everypony else looked at each other, and Casey asked, "Uh... so what does that mean exactly?"

"That a _song montage_ is going to happen," sang the happy pony, once her body stopped moving around. " _Any second now..._ "

 **[Insert beginning of "** _ **Reach for the Stars**_ **" by Cash Cash]**

"Yup, told ya," said Pinkie Pie, looking up at the bolded letters above her.

* * *

 _Take off, at the speed of sound_

 _Bright lights, colors all around_

 _I'm running wild, living fast, and free_

 _Got no regrets inside of me_

 **When Stardust and Princess Twilight finally entered Sugarcube Corner, they found out from the alternate Pinkie Pie that she and the other Stardust** **were supposed to create as many cupcakes and brownies as possible (with the latter pleasing Stardust), so that's exactly what the gold pony did.**

 **They were also surprised at the fact that she already knew Stardust wasn't the actual one from her world.**

 **Her response to** _ **how**_ **she knew was - "Just a hunch!"**

 _Not looking back_

 _Not giving up_

 _Not letting go_

 _I'll keep on running!_

 **Once they had finished baking enough, Stardust's wristwatch began to beep, and Twilight headed back outside...**

 **Then, a few seconds later, she came back to bring out Stardust, who waved goodbye to Alternate Pinkie while eating some of the brownies that he'd made.**

 _I'm gonna reach for the stars_

 _Although they look pretty far_

 _I'm gonna find my own way_

 _And take a chance on today_

 _The sky with stars so bright_

 _The colors feel so right_

 _I never felt like this_

 _I'll keep on running!_

 _The sky with stars so bright_

 _The colors feel so right_

 _Just take my hand_

 _We're gonna reach for the stars_

 _Tonight..._

* * *

 **The next world was the one that had Applejack as Stardust's love interest, and unfortunately, for Princess Twilight, the two of them shared a kiss once Alternate AJ saw him, while Stardust again felt the same way that his other self did.**

 _Tonight..._

 _Wake up, living day by day._

 _Do what I want, and I'll do it my way_

 _The world is flying right below my feet_

 _Got no regrets inside of me._

 **"Appledust World" took a little longer for Stardust to fix, due to the fact that he was reminded of Applejack from his own world, and he was hoping that the others were right about her and Applebloom being alive.**

 **Also, once the two of them hugged each other goodbye, Applejack told him to take care of her other self.**

 **"Yeah... most definitely..." said Stardust, trying to hold in his tears.**

 _Not looking back (Not looking back)_

 _Not giving up (Not giving up)_

 _Not letting go_

 _I'll keep on running!_

 _I'm gonna reach for the stars_

 _Although they look pretty far_

 _I'm gonna find my own way_

 _And take a chance on today_

* * *

 **The 5th World had him paired up with Rainbow Dash, and luckily, for Princess Twilight, the two of them didn't kiss.**

 **Unfortunately, for Stardust, there was only one way to prove to Rainbow that he wasn't the Stardust of "Stardash World".**

 _The sky with stars so bright_

 _The colors feel so right_

 _I never felt like this_

 _I'll keep on running!_

 **Once the race was over, with Stardust being the victor, Rainbow Dash finally believed him, and after they shook hooves, the other Stardust started to appear.**

 **"Nope, we don't have time for this," said Stardust, dragging Pinkie over to the others.**

 **"** _ **Just ONCE, Stardust,"**_ **begged Pinkie, who wanted to see the other version of himself appear.**

 _The sky with stars so bright_

 _The colors feel so right_

 _Just take my hand_

 _We're gonna reach for the stars_

 _Tonight..._

 _Tonight..._

* * *

 **The worlds after that were "** _ **Amore Balance World**_ **" and "** _ **Moondust World**_ **", and although he had no problem with these worlds existing, Stardust was** _ **very**_ **thankful of the fact that he didn't have to go to a world in which Princess Celestia was his love interest.**

 **"How come you don't like her?" Casey asked, before they left the world that had an alternate Princess Luna.**

 **"I'll save that conversation for another story," replied Stardust.**

 _I've got it in my sight._

 _The colors feels so right._

 _Got my feet off the ground I'll keep on running!_

 _Oh, I can feel it now._

 _The colors all around_

 _Just take my hand we're gonna reach for the stars..._

 _Just take a chance (Just take a chance)_

 _We'll do it right again_

 _(I'm gonna reach for the stars)_

 _Just take my hand (Just take my hand)_

 _We'll take a chance tonight..._

 _Reach for the stars...Tonight!_

* * *

 _"Tonight..."_ sang Pinkie, and then, she gave Stardust a wide smile. "See? We finished fixing all the worlds!"

"Um... not exactly," pointed out Casey, as he and Twilight were going over the checklist.

"Starswirl said that _nine_ worlds needed to be fixed, and this is actually the last world, so..." added Twilight.

"Um, guys?" The three of them looked at Princess Twilight, who nodded her head over at Stardust. "He fainted..."

The last world for them to fix was the alternate world of _Equestria Girls_ , in which he and Sunset Shimmer were a couple.

"I don't suppose your _song montage_ combo could help us out again?" Princess Twilight asked, looking at the pink-skinned human.

Pinkie shook her head, and said, "Sorry, that's usually a one-time thing."

 _ **"Well, well, well... I'm actually surprised you all made it this far."**_

Hearing that familiar voice made Stardust immediately stand up, and found himself face to face with Miles, who had also turned into an EG human.

However, Miles was also in a car, and right before Stardust could start saying a series of curse words at the cloaked human, they heard a thumping noise coming from the trunk of Miles' car.

"You have _Sunset_ in the trunk?!"

Miles let out an evil laugh, and said, "That's right, _hero_ , and you're going to have to save her from me if you plan on saving this world... or just let it get destroyed on its own, since I know you despise it anyway... _ha-ha-ha-ha-ha_!"

With that, Miles drove away, and the group of friends could hear the muffled screams of Sunset that came from the trunk.

"Don't worry, everypony," said Princess Twilight. "Me and the other Twilight can chase him down while you three-"

"Um, love?" Stardust interrupted. "You two don't have wings, remember?"

The two Twilights looked at each other's backs, and groaned in disappointment.

"Wait a second," cried Pinkie Pie, pointing at a nearby racing-type vehicle. "That car has nobody inside, let's use it!"

Normally, Stardust would have explained to Pinkie that they could all probably end up being arrested for grand theft auto, but then again, no one showed up to arrest pre-reformed Sunset, Principal Cinch, or even that one counselor from Camp Everfree, so he simply said, "Good idea."

The five of them entered the vehicle, with Stardust sitting in the driver's seat, and after getting the keys from the flap above his head, he turned the car on.

"Wow, Jack, I never knew that you could drive a car," said Princess Twilight, looking at him with awe and admiration.

Stardust sheepishly smiled at his girlfriend, and said, "Um, not exactly, love... only in video games... but I'm pretty sure it's easy in this world, and we're kinda pressed for time here."

Before Princess Twilight could say anything, Stardust slammed his foot on the accelerator pedal...

 _CRASH!_

... and reversed right into the emtpy car that was parked behind them.

"Oops, forgot to change it from _reverse_ to _drive_ ," said Stardust. "Is the other car safe?"

Twilight gulped, and said, "Um, not exactly... and I think Flash Sentry is going to need to get himself a new car."

When Stardust heard that, he couldn't help but smile mischievously, and as they drove forward to catch up to Miles, the young teenager laughed under his breath.

* * *

 _Sparks fly, I hit the ground running_

 _Thumb in the air on the side of the road_

 _Good work.. never comes easy_

 _Hey Driver to the top of the world_

A few minutes later, Stardust had caught up to Miles, who didn't look happy to see him.

"You're dead meat, Miles," growled the young teenager, whose car was neck-and-neck with his nemesis.

 _Sparks fly, I hit the ground running_

 _Thumb in the air on the side of the road_

 _Good work.. never comes easy_

 _Hey Driver to the top of the world_

 _Put my life over my right shoulder with confidence_

 _And here I come_

 _ **"Suck dynamite, hero,"**_ laughed Miles, and he tossed the lit weapon into Stardust's car... landing in Pinkie Pie's lap.

 _Westbound_

 _Leave the motor running because I'm on the run_

 _In this crowded world I'll be high waiting when the last train comes_

 _"Pinkie, throw that out the window!"_ Stardust yelled, while Miles' car started to get ahead of him.

"But innocent people could be hurt," replied Pinkie.

 _"_ _ **Throw**_ _it out the window, Pinkie!"_

The pink-colored teenager said, "It'll send the wrong message to children."

Stardust rolled his eyes, and exclaimed, "Then, toss it at Miles' damn car trunk!"

" _Ohhhh_... okay!" Pinkie Pie yelled, and she brought half of her body out the window, tossing the explosive at Miles' car, which landed successfully on the top of the trunk's lid.

 _ **Boom!**_

Stardust quickly swerved to the side, narrowly avoiding the flying lid, and found himself looking at a roughed up Sunset, who was now holding onto the back edge of Miles' car.

 _(Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey)_

 _Sparks fly, I hit the ground running_

 _I'm in the air on the side of the road_

 _"Sunset, you have to let go!"_ Stardust yelled. " _Twilight will catch you!"_

 _"Are you insane?!"_ yelled a terrified Sunset.

Twilight, who was sticking half of her body out, cried out, " _You have to trust him, Sunset! Just grab my hands!_ "

Sunset gulped, and closed her eyes, silently praying to herself before letting go of the car.

 _Good work.. never comes easy_

 _Hey Driver to the top of the world_

 _"Gotcha!"_ Twilight cried, now holding onto Sunset's arms as tight as possible, and once Stardust hit the brakes, she pulled the yellow-colored teenager into the car.

" _Phew_... thanks, Twilight," said Sunset.

 _Sparks fly, I hit the ground running_

 _Time stops at the end of the road_

Stardust smiled, pleased with himself in being able to save Sunset, but as his wristwatch began to beep, he turned the car around. "Alright, we got to take her someplace safe."

 _The big life, big deals, beginnings,_

 _Hey Driver to the top of the world_

"Well, it's a good thing that we didn't keep on driving after Miles," said Pinkie, as she let out a sigh of relief.

"What do you mean by that, Pinkie?" asked Princess Twilight.

 _Hey Driver to the top of the world_

 _Hey Driver to the top of the world_

 _Hey Driver to the top of the world_

 _Hey Driver to the top of the world_

 _Hey Driver to the top of the world_

 _Hey Driver to the top of the world_

 _Hey Driver to the top of the world_

 _Hey Driver to the top of the world_

A frustrated Miles started letting out an angry roar, but then, he realized that he was now heading straight for a giant brick wall.

"Oh, crap..."


	31. Power Up

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 31 - Power Up_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

After taking the alternate version of Sunset to a safe place, Stardust and the other ponies were transported by the wristwatch to the final world on Twilight's checklist.

"So, this is the world that Miles came from, huh?" Stardust said, looking around, taking in the view. "Not that much different than all of the other ones we've traveled to."

" _Except_ for the fact that everything looks all dark and gloomy," pointed out Pinkie Pie.

They were all in Ponyville, and just like Pinkie had said, nearly everything was either grey or black, with no other colors whatsoever.

"This makes Starlight's pre-Equality village look like a carnival," said Stardust, surprised at how _negative_ the world appeared to be.

 _It wasn't always like this,_ said Starswirl, whose voice could now be heard by everypony.

"I bet this was all Miles' work," growled Stardust.

 _Not exactly, Jack... and I understand your feelings of hatred against Miles, but this is not entirely his fault... he's not even in control of his own actions._

"Well, who _is_ in control, then?" Casey asked, not understanding what the elderly pony was talking about.

 _I shall explain the story, but you all must start making your way towards the Everfree Forest... I'm sensing terrible darkness in this world._

Everypony nodded their heads, and they started heading down the path that led to the Everfree Forest, while Starswirl began to tell them of Miles' story.

 _Miles was in the same position as Stardust and Casey, meaning that he was a pony that ended up falling for the Princess Twilight of this world, and vice versa._

 _In regards to the silver staff, it has many abilities, and depending on the feelings of the pony who is holding it, the staff can do wonderful or terrible things._

"Well, who in their right mind would allow Miles to handle something with _that_ much power?" Stardust asked.

Starswirl hesitated for a moment before he continued his story.

 _The Celestia of this world assumed that it would be easy for him and Twilight to retrieve it from the cave we're going to right now, with no issues whatsoever._

"You have _got_ to be f****in kidding me," exclaimed Stardust. "So, all of this is because of _her_?"

 _Let's not dwell right now on another reason to despise her more, Jack._

The gold pony sighed, and rolled his eyes, saying, "Well, I can't exactly say that I'm shocked about this..."

"So, what happened when they got to the cave?" asked Twilight.

 _They were able to locate and obtain the staff, but unfortunately, they had an encounter with a terrible creature... one that attaches itself to anypony it can find, like a costume... and depending on the mind of its host, it can grant them unique abilities before eventually taking complete control of whoever the host may be._

 _In this case, it tried attaching itself to Miles, but Twilight was able to put a stop to the monster's plan._

"Well, that sounds good," said Pinkie, trying to find the positivity in the story.

 _Oh, it was, at first... but the battle that it and Twilight had cost her a large amount of her strength, and she ended up going to the hospital a few days later, eventually going into a coma._

Pinkie gulped, and she said, "That doesn't sound good at all."

 _It wasn't for anypony... especially Miles, since they were about to reach the next step in their relationship._

" _Seriously?_ " Stardust exclaimed, who was refusing to feel any sympathy for Miles. "Why the hell would he throw something like that away, then?"

 _Influences from the creature, Jack, who had been able to attach a small part of itself to Miles, and during the time that Miles spent grieving for Twilight, it used its power to twist his thoughts and dreams while taking control of his body at the same time._

"Well, I still don't get why he has a damn problem with me in the first place," argued Stardust. "I never did anything to him or... whatever that damn creature thing is."

 _Because you, Jack, are similar to the pony that caused it to be locked away in the first place, and with you out of the way, it can continue to cause destruction and chaos wherever it goes, with nopony being able to stop it._

"Really?" Stardust said, now a little surprised. "Was the pony like my great, great ancestor or something?"

 _That's a story for another time, Jack..._

Stardust was about to argue with him, but the elderly pony said to him, _I know it's frustrating, Jack, but right now, you all must find the cave, locate the hidden power, and destroy that creature once and for all._

"But what about this world?" Twilight asked. "How is everything in this world supposed to be fixed?"

 _That will have to be up to Miles, I'm afraid... once we get the creature off of him... and as long as Jack doesn't kill Miles, either..._

"What do you mean _not_ kill - _oof_!"

Stardust's sentence was cut short when he accidentally bumped his head into a tree, and he started rubbing his forehead. "Well, we made it to the forest."

"Um... actually, Star, we're _in_ the forest," pointed out Casey. "And is that the cave?"

Stardust looked at what was in front of them, and saw an entrance to the cave.

"Huh, well that was easier than I thought," chuckled the gold pony.

However, Pinkie had a suspicious look on her face. "Yeah, a little _too easy_..."

She began walking towards the cave, with Twilight asking, "What do you mean, Pinkie?"

"Well, if the thing that is controlling Miles hates Stardust so much, then whyyyyyy... _yyyyaaahhhoooo!_ "

Pinkie ended up falling down a trap hole that was right before the front of the cave.

" _Pinkie_!" Twilight cried, and she hurried over to the hole that her friend had fallen into, but more of the ground broke away underneath her, causing the alicorn to fall down the same hole.

" _Twilight_!" Casey ran as fast as he could to try and catch her, but he ended up falling in, as well.

Stardust and Princess Twilight looked at each other, and the former human made a polite gesture. "Mares first?"

His girlfriend just rolled her eyes.

* * *

 _(Limbo)_

"Is anypony keeping track on how long Twilight and the others are taking?" asked Rarity.

EG Rainbow looked at her fitness watch, and answered, "Um, almost five minutes."

"Really?" EG Pinkie said, sounding surprised. "Wow, it feels like they've been gone longer."

 _ **"Believe her, Pinkie, it's the truth..."**_

Everypony turned around, and saw Miles, looking extremely bruised and upset.

"He looks like he's been in a car wreck," whispered EG Pinkie.

Starlight frowned, and took a few steps forward. "What did you do to them, Miles?"

 _ **"I wouldn't be too worried about that right now,"**_ growled Miles. _**"You should worry about your own life because I'm about to kill everypony here."**_

Starlight shook her head, and replied, "Not if I have anything to say about it."

Then, before Miles could say anything else, the purple unicorn shot a very powerful blast at him, causing a large explosion.

When the smoke finally cleared away, Starlight saw that Miles looked more roughed up than usual.

 _ **"You want to go, little pony?"**_

Twilight's pupil nodded her head, and spoke with confidence. " _Bring it._ "

* * *

 _(Miles' World)_

"Everypony okay?" Twilight asked, once the five of them were gathered together, as well as using her horn as a flashlight with her magic.

Stardust dusted some dirt off of his shoulders, and answered, "Yeah, but I don't think I'm going to be cave-diving anytime soon."

"Always the comedian," said Princess Twilight, who was also using her magic to shine light in the dark cave.

The gold pony looked at his girlfriend's glowing horn, and said, "That wasn't a joke, love... now, if I were to ask if you were running on double A batteries, _that_ would be an attempt at a joke."

Casey and Twilight both looked at each other, and asked, "What are batteries?"

"Long story," replied Princess Twilight, who shook her head. "Now, how exactly are we going to find-"

"Um, Other Twilight?"

The parallel version of Twilight turned around, and saw Pinkie, who was standing in front of a wall.

"This looks important... right?"

Stardust blinked his eyes a few times, and said, "How in _Equestria_ does..."

 _Do I have to remind you again at this point, Jack?_

"Yeah, yeah, don't question Pinkie Pie," muttered Stardust, bringing a hoof to his forehead. "I might need therapy after this..."

He followed the other three over to the wall, and noticed that the wall looked like the ones you would find inside of an Egyptian pyramid.

"Huh, the _My Little Pony_ version of hieroglyphics," mumbled Stardust, a little surprised. "Interesting..."

"Didn't Fluttershy and the CMC's go to a place like this?" Pinkie Pie asked, looking at Twilight.

The alicorn princess was about to answer, but she noticed a pair of hoofprints placed directly in the middle of the wall.

"Um, Stardust? I think you're supposed to place your hoofs here."

Stardust walked up to the wall, and looked at his front two hooves. "Starswirl?"

 _According to the ancient language on this wall... yes, Jack, you must place your hooves there._

The gold pony sighed, took a deep breath, and placed his hooves on top of the ones on the wall.

Then, to everyone's surprise, the entire wall started to glow brightly, as well as Stardust's body.

"Uh... is this _supposed_ to happen?" asked the young pony, not knowing what to do next.

Casey shrugged his shoulders, while Twilight was quickly trying to write everything that was happening in her _Stardust_ notebook.

" _Whoa_ , it gave you a necklace!" Pinkie Pie cried, and the gold pony looked down to see that he was now wearing a necklace, which bore a pendant version of his Cutie Mark.

 _I know you don't like your Cutie Mark, Jack, but now is not the time to complain._

* * *

 _(Limbo)_

 _ **"Why would you risk your life for these ponies?"**_ Miles growled, using the staff to shoot a deadly energy blast at Starlight.

Twilight's pupil quickly used an energy force field to block his attack, and sent her own blast at the cloaked pony.

"Because their lives are worth fighting for."

Miles flew out of the way, narrowly missing Starlight's blast, and he angrily used the staff to send another one of his own blasts.

As for Starlight, she powered up her magic to the highest level it could reach, and fired another blast at Miles.

 _Whoosh!_

The two blasts struck each other at a halfway point, and each ponies kept pushing forward to try and gain the upper edge over the other.

 _ **"You're really... starting to annoy me,"**_ exclaimed Miles, using as much energy as possible.

"Yeah?" Starlight said, smirking at him. "Well, I'm... about... to finish you off..."

While Miles' forehead began to sweat, the purple unicorn started to take a deep breath, preparing to take one last push in order to-

 _"Twilight! Casey! You're back!"_ Spike yelled, which momentarily created a distraction for Miles and Starlight.

A portal had appeared, and as the young alicorn and orange-yellow Earth Pony stepped out, so did Pinkie Pie and Princess Twilight.

"Wait a second," wondered Applejack, noticing that somepony was missing. "Where did Stardust go?"

Starlight took another look at the group of returned friends, but then, she heard Miles say, _**"Rookie mistake..."**_

The cloaked pony used Starlight's distraction to his advantage, and was able to successfully attack her with his blast.

 _Boom!_

" _Starlight!"_ Twilight and Spike ran over to her friend, and she went down to the ground, holding her friend in her hooves. "Starlight, talk to me."

The young unicorn coughed a few times, and said, "Hey... T-Twilight... welcome back..."

She began to close her eyes, while Twilight felt her eyes begin to water up.

"No... Starlight, please..."

 _ **"She's not dead, my little pony... just exhausted."**_

She and Spike turned to look at Miles, who was walking towards them, with a smug look and wide grin on his face.

 _ **"This is what happens, princess, when a pony like you tries to be a hero..."**_

 _"Hey!"_

Miles turned his head to see the rest of the Mane Six (both pony and EG), Sci Twi, Sunset Shimmer, Sugarcoat, Sour Sweet, and Princess Twilight, who were all glaring at the cloaked pony.

"You mess with them, pal, you mess with all of us," said Applejack, in a fierce tone.

"Yeah, and this time, I'm not even gonna tell you what's in or what isn't in my party cannon," exclaimed Pinkie Pie, who was now sitting atop her prized possession.

Miles began to laugh, saying, _**"You seriously think I'm worried about all of you damn ponies?"**_

Princess Twilight smirked, and shook her head. "Oh, it's not _us_ you need to worry about, Miles."

 _ **"Who then?"**_ exclaimed the sinister pony, and the answer came in the form of an unexpected energy blast that came out of nowhere, causing Miles to fly back several feet.

As he landed on the ground, a familiar voice said, " _That would be_ _ **me**_ _, you son of a [BEEP]."_

Then, in front of Twilight, a familar pony appeared, removing his invisibility shield, and floating in the air while his body was glowing with a pure white and fire-like energy.

 _ **"No... that can't be..."**_ growled Miles, shocked at what was in front of him.

Stardust, who was also standing up the way humans would, smirked at the cloaked pony, saying, "You'd better believe it, pal... and right now..."

 _Whoosh!_

The gold pony fired a rapid fire blast at Miles, who didn't have enough time to dodge the attack, and he ended up flying back even farther.

"... I'm going to enjoy beating the living hell out of you." finished Stardust, and then, he raced over tp Miles, barely allowing him to stand up.

"This is for AJ and Applebloom," yelled the young pony, once Miles was in his grasp, and he began rapidly punching the cloaked pony's face.

 _Wham-wham-wham-wham-wham-wham!_

 _ **"What the...?!"**_

Stardust chuckled, and replied, "I think its time I delivered to you a taste of your own medicine."

He then held onto Miles' body, spinning around several times before looking like a firery tornado, and stopped right after swinging him into a nearby rocky hill, causing an explosion of dust and tiny rocks. "I'm sending you straight to Hell..."

While Miles tried to stand back up, Pinkie Pie brought down a boxing microphone to her muzzle, and yelled, " _Let's get ready to rumble!"_


	32. The Final Battle

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 32 - The Final Battle  
_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

 _[Background Fighting Music - "Victorious" by Panic! At The Disco]_

* * *

Sensing that Miles wasn't going to get up anytime soon, Stardust decided to take a quick moment to float over towards Twilight, and check on how Starlight. "You okay?"

The exhausted unicorn nodded her head, and said, "Yeah, I'll be... just fine..."

Nodding his head, Stardust turned his attention to Twilight. "You might want to take her back home, Twilight... along with everypony else."

He then started to move one of his hooves around, creating a portal, and placed it near the rest of their friends.

Princess Twilight was about to suggest something else, but Stardust shook his head, saying, "Trust me, love, it's what's best for them."

" _Well, it's about time we got out of here,_ " exclaimed Sour Sweet, sounding annoyed, but before entering the portal, she smiled sweetly at him. "But thanks anyway! Good luck with your death battle!"

Stardust simply nodded his head, while Sugarcoat followed after her bipolar friend. "Even though I'm well aware of the fact that you don't like or hate me and her, I appreciate your concern for our safety... so try not to die."

Once she was gone, the rest of the EG girls did the same, as well as Sunset and Sci Twi, leaving only the pony versions of the Mane Six, Princess Twilight, Casey, and Starlight.

"Now, hold on just a minute there, sugarcube," responded Applejack, who wasn't in any type of hurry to leave. "None of us are leavin' until we make sure that Mr. Cloaked Pony over there doesn't bother any of us ever again."

 **"No one else is going anywhere... and neither are you** **!** "

Stardust turned around, and saw Miles, who was also in a straight posture, and glowing with his own energy. "Took you long enough."

Miles gritted his teeth in frustration, and cried, **"I warned you about being a hero, Stardust... and now, you're about to pay the ultimate price."**

 _ **Tonight we are victorious**_  
 _ **Champagne pouring over us**_  
 _ **All my friends, we're glorious**_  
 _ **Tonight we are victorious**_

" _Oh, ho, it's on, mother[BEEP]_ ," said Stardust, and the former human charged at his new nemesis, with every intention of destroying him.

 _ **Oh-oh-oh-oh**_  
 _ **Victorious**_  
 _ **Oh-oh-oh-oh**_

Miles used his staff to fire an energy blast, but Stardust simply knocked it away with his hoof, without even stopping. **"Oh, you've got to be-"**

The cloaked pony was cut off after Stardust delivered a right uppercut to Miles' jaw, sending him flying into the air.

 _ **Double bubble disco queen headed to the guillotine**_  
 _ **Skin as cool as Steve McQueen, let me be your killer king**_  
 _ **It hurts until it stops, we will love until it's not**_  
 _ **I'm a killing spree in white, eyes like broken Christmas lights**_

"You don't get to talk anymore, asshole," exclaimed Stardust, and he quickly grabbed the staff, tossing it over to Twilight.

Then, he went to catch up to Miles, and clasped his hooves together, bringing them down onto his enemy's skull.

 _ **My touch is black and poisonous**_  
 _ **And nothing like my punch drunk kiss**_  
 _ **I know you need it, do you feel it**_  
 _ **Drink the water, drink the wine**_

 _Why does this seem familiar?_ thought Princess Twilight, unaware of the fact that her necklace (which had yet to be replaced by the real one that Miles had with him) was starting to glow.

 ** _Oh we gotta turn up the crazy_**  
 ** _Livin' like a washed up celebrity_**  
 ** _Shooting fireworks like it's the Fourth of July_**  
 ** _Until we feel alright_**  
 ** _Until we feel alright_**

Miles quickly flew straight down to the ground, but before he could even get up, Stardust picked him up, and tossed him headfirst into a nearby brick wall.

"When did _that_ get here?" wondered Rainbow Dash.

"He probably just imagined it being there," answered Pinkie. "You can do anything you want in here, remember?"

 **I'm like a scarf trick, it's all up the sleeve**  
 **I taste like magic, waves that swallow quick and deep**  
 **Throw the bait, catch the shark, bleed the water red**  
 **Fifty words for murder and I'm every one of them**

As Stardust started walking over to Miles, the cloaked pony cried, **"You aren't even fighting fair!"**

"You should've thought about that before you decided to kill two of my closest friends," replied Stardust, and he knocked away another one of Miles' attempted energy blasts.

 _ **My touch is black and poisonous**_  
 _ **And nothing like my punch drunk kiss**_  
 _ **I know you need it, do you feel it**_  
 ** _Drink the water, drink the wine_**

Miles then started firing multiple blasts at Stardust, all at once, but the young pony swiftly sent all of them away with ease, and once Stardust was in front of him, Miles tried to deliver the same punch to his chest as he'd done previously, but Stardust quickly blocked it. "Not this time."

 _ **Tonight we are victorious**_  
 _ **Champagne pouring over us**_  
 _ **All my friends, we're glorious**_  
 _ **Tonight we are victorious**_

Before Miles could even say anything, the young pony delivered a powerful and solid punch into his chest, knocking the air out of him.

 _Alright, Jack, that's enough._

Ignoring what Starswirl had to say, Stardust used his imagination to create a row of multiple leaf-less trees, and got a tight grip of Miles, bringing him up to his face.

 _"This will teach you to mess with my friends,"_ growled the furious pony, and threw him like a Frisbee, with Miles crashing into each and every single tree.

Once Miles got to his knees, the cloaked and weakened pony pounded his hoofs on the ground. **"No... this can't be happening... this can't be real... _this is not the way this ends_!"**

Stardust made his way over to Miles, and started to laugh. "And you said _I_ was a pathetic pony."

With that being said, the young pony began powering his energy up to max, and was about to deliver a final blow when he heard a familiar voice yell, _"STOP!"_

Turning to see who it was, Stardust's eyes became wide with surprise. "Love? Wha - what are you..."

 _"Thank you for your help, Stardust, but I can take over from here,"_ said Princess Twilight, whose necklace was glowing as bright as he was, and the purple alicorn turned her attention to Miles. _"Rowan, I'm giving you one last chance to release Miles, or else I'll do it for you."_

 _"Rowan?"_ exclaimed Stardust, as well as the rest of their friends, and Miles started to laugh.

 _ **"Well, well, it looks like you found a way out of your coma, princess."**_

Princess Twilight nodded her head, and said, " _Indeed I did, Rowan... now, do as I said, and RELEASE Miles NOW!"_

"Um, what the hay is goin' on right now?" Applejack asked, and everypony (except for Princess Twilight and Miles) looked at Pinkie Pie, who shrugged her shoulders.

"What? I don't know, either!"

Miles looked up at Princess Twilight, and then, he started to scream in pain... but for some reason, it sounded like a mixture of Miles' own voice, and another pony that no one recognized.

"Starswirl? What's going on?" wondered Stardust, looking back and forth between his enemy and special somepony.

 _I... am not exactly sure myself right now, Jack..._

Stardust tried to say more to his elderly friend, but then, he found himself looking at the screaming Miles, and saw that the dark energy surrounding his body was rising up into the air, slowly transforming into the outline of a Pegasus' body. _"What... the... [BEEP]?"_

Once all of the energy had left Miles' body, the cloaked pony collapsed to the ground, now unconscious, and Stardust noticed that he looked completely nicer than before... and noticed a familiar object (Princess Twilight's real necklace) hanging out from one of Miles' cloak pockets. _Isn't that Twilight's necklace?_

He also looked up, seeing a menacing and jet-black colored Pegasus pony, whom he assumed was "Rowan", and turned to look back at Princess Twilight... just in time to see a white and ghost-like orb come out from her necklace (the fake one), with both of them disappearing. "Uh... love?"

Princess Twilight shook her head a few times, and rubbed her forehead, acting as if she'd just woken up from a powerful trance. "Jack? What... what happened?"

"Twilight, why did..." said Stardust, but his sentence was cut off when he suddenly felt strange.

 _Jack? Are you alright?_

"I... don't..." Stardust replied, but then, he felt a sudden pain in his chest, and collapsed to the ground. "What... why...?"

" _Jack!_ " Princess Twilight sat down, as well, trying to help him sit up, while the rest of their friends hurried over to see what was wrong with Stardust.

Rowan floated down to the ground, and his muzzle became a wide grin. **"You may have discovered a new power, Jack, but did you really think that I would let you have the last laugh?"**

Trying to ignore his chest-pain, Stardust exclaimed, "What the hell are... you... blabbering on about now?"

 **"You're about to die, Jack... and be erased from existence..."**

Princess Twilight frowned, and asked, "What do you mean? What did you do?"

* * *

 ** _(Stardust's Past)_**

 _"... the thought of losing you to that monster forever... it wasn't something I could live with..."_

 ** _From his secret spot in the gardens, Rowan (in Miles' body) looked up to see Twilight, who was having a conversation with a less-weary Stardust._**

 _"Twilight..."_

 _"I heard what you said to Spike..."_

 ** _Using the staff's power to make himself invisible, Rowan started to rise into the air, and slowly made his way to the two ponies, as well as transforming the staff into a silver sword.  
_**

 _"And sometimes your low self-esteem astounds me, Jack Wright..."_

 _ **However, before Stardust could give his response, the two of them were interrupted by the cloaked pony, deciding to reveal himself, and without letting them have a chance to say anything, Rowan swung the sharp-edged weapon, bringing it down onto Stardust's skull.**_

* * *

A furious Stardust tried to get up, but the pain became too unbearable, and he fell back down to the ground. "You... you... _son of a_..."

 **"Yes, Jack... I went back in time, to your past, and killed you,"** said Rowan, smiling with victory. **"And in a matter of minutes, you will cease to exist... leaving me to have the-"**

 _Whoosh!_

His sentence was interrupted by an unexpected blast that came from the staff, making the evil pony disappear, and everypony else turned to look at Pinkie Pie, who was holding the staff. "I wanted to help Stardust beat him."

Princess Twilight was about to say something, but then, she heard Stardust coughing, and brought him over to her so that she could hold the young pony in his arms.

 ** _[Insert "Transformation" by Alan Menken, and stop around the 1:35 mark... you'll return to the rest of the song later on]_**

"Jack, it's... it's okay..." said the young alicorn. "We can find a way to fix this."

 _"I don't know if... you can, love..."_ replied Stardust, whose body was starting to become transparent. " _I should have... seen this... coming..."_

A sense of sadness was felt between all of the ponies, but Princess Twilight shook her head, refusing to give up, and holding back in her tears. "Don't you do this to me, Jack... you may have lost me once, but I've lost you more than that... you have to hang in there."

 _"I'm... trying..."_ said Stardust, whose voice was also becoming weaker. _"But only so that I... can tell you... that... you are THE best thing to have ever happened to me, Twilight... and I'm glad I chose to stay with you in Ponyville, all those years ago..."_

Then, while tears started falling from Princess Twilight's eyes, and before he faded away completely, Stardust spoke his final words. _"I... love you... Twilight Sparkle..."_


	33. Balance Restored

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 33 - Balance Restored_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, and the OC character known as Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

 **[Insert "An Innocent Warrior" from MOANA]**

Nopony had any idea what to say about what had just happened with Stardust.

"Jack... _no_..." sobbed Princess Twilight, who was holding onto the necklace that Stardust had given her.

Applejack took off her hat in respect for the gold pony, and said, "We're sorry this happened, Other Twilight... I sure wish we could do somethin' to make ya feel better."

 _"Actually, there is a way..."_

Everypony turned around, and saw Miles, who was no longer glowing, as well as appearing less terrifying.

 _"Really?"_ Princess Twilight said, her eyes lighting up with excitement. "Tell me, please... I'll do whatever it takes."

Before Miles could respond, Rarity let out a scream, and suddenly, there was a broomstick in her hooves.

 _"You monster! How dare you kill Stardust!"_

She then proceeded with using the broom to whack him several times, causing Miles to cry, " _Ow_... Rarity, I - _ow..._ didn't - _ow_... _stop hitting me_!"

Rarity raised the broom above her head again, but Applejack pulled it out of her grasp, saying, "Just settle down, Rarity, he wasn't the one who killed Stardust, it was that Rowan fella."

"Oh... yes..." said Rarity, realizing that her friend was right. "Sorry about that, darling."

"It's... perfectly fine..." replied Miles, and then, he made a gesture at the staff that Pinkie Pie was holding "Twilight, you must take the staff, and go back in time to stop Rowan from ever attacking Stardust."

"But won't that affect you in some way?" Princess Twilight wondered, tilting her head to the side. "For all we know, I could end up erasing _you_ from existence."

Miles shook his head, saying, "I can see why you would think that, Princess, but you need not to worry about me... just keep him from interrupting the kiss that you and Stardust share, and then, it'll be like nothing ever happened."

As Princess Twilight accepted the staff from Pinkie, Miles added, "Once the past versions of you and Stardust kiss, he'll end up being part of a different timeline, and cease to exist... then, you can return back here, and the present self of Stardust will come back."

Princess Twilight looked down at the necklace that she'd received as a gift from Stardust, and after a brief moment of silent thinking, the young alicorn nodded her head. "I'll do it."

"Good, but you must act swiftly," reminded Miles, looking concerned. "You only have a short amount of time before he succeeds in killing Stardust."

Princess Twilight nodded her head, and began using the staff to create a portal, which she then entered once it was created.

"Speaking of which... were exactly _did_ you, um, send Rowan to, Pinkie?" asked Rarity.

The pink pony laid against her party cannon, and shrugged her shoulders. "I can't remember... but I'm sure it was to a place that a meanie like him deserved to go to."

* * *

( _Stardust's Past)_

 _The portal appeared in the gardens, and Princess Twilight stepped out, quickly searching for any sign of Rowan._

"For me... It made me realize exactly how much I care for you, even now..."

 _Princess Twilight looked up, and could see the past version of herself talking to Past Stardust._

 _She even found herself mouthing the same words that her past self was saying._

"And when Sombra took hold of you... The thought of losing you to that monster forever... Wasn't something I could live with..."

 _Then, she saw another portal appear a few feet away, and frowned after seeing Rowan step out._

 _"Ahem!"_

 _The sinister pony turned around, and once he saw Princess Twilight, he became confused and irritated. "What are_ _ **you**_ _doing here?"_

 _The alicorn princess glared at Rowan, and said, "This is for Jack, you [BEEP]."_

 _Before Rowan could say anything else, Princess Twilight fired an energy blast at the cloaked pony, causing him to suddenly vanish into thin air._

 _Feeling satisfied, the young pony was about to head back to Limbo, but took a moment to watch the event in front of her unfold._

"Twilight..." said Past Stardust, but he also wondered why he was even talking in the first place.

"I heard what you said to Spike..." replied Past Twilight, whose muzzle was only a few inches away from his. "And sometimes your low self-esteem astounds me, Jack Wright..."

"With good reas-"

 _Princess Twilight smiled widely, and could almost feel her heart soar as the past versions of herself and Stardust shared their... was it their first kiss?_

 _She also watched the past versions of their friends arrive to offer their congrats, as well as her past self and Past Stardust sharing another kiss._

 _"I'll see you soon, Jack," whispered Princess Twilight, and then, once the portal was created, she stepped inside it._

 _ **Whoosh!**_

"Huh?" Past Stardust found himself pausing his kiss with Past Twilight to turn around.

"You alright, sugarcube?" Past Applejack asked.

Past Stardust nodded his head, but didn't look too sure. "I thought... I heard someone else..."

Past Rainbow started to chuckle, and told him, "I think you've been kissing Twilight too long."

Past Twilight felt herself blush while Past Stardust rolled his eyes, and said, "I know what I heard... I'll come back tomorrow to find out."

"Oh, um, actually, Jack..." said Past Twilight, who was still blushing. "I was hoping that you'd come with us to the Crystal Empire tomorrow."

Past Stardust thought about it, and nodded his head, saying, "Sure, Twilight... I mean, it's not like anything terrible is going to happen tomorrow."

* * *

 _(Limbo)_

 _"I wish I'd never agreed to go..."_

"Jack?"

Stardust opened his eyes, and found himself looking at the concerned face of Princess Twilight.

"Twilight? But... I thought... didn't I..."

He was cut off after Princess Twilight decided to kiss him, and it only took a moment for Stardust to return the favor.

 _I told you she'd be able to bring you back,_ said Starswirl, from inside of the young pony's mind.

Everypony else smiled at what was going on in front of them, glad that the two ponies had reunited, and once they had finished kissing, Pinkie Pie said, "Welcome back, Stardust! How was it wherever you went?"

"Thanks, Pinkie," said the young pony, who was also still wearing the Cutie Mark necklace. "And it was... um... a very _interesting_ experience."

"How so?" Twilight asked, as she prepared to write whatever he was going to say in her _Stardust_ notebook, which made her friends roll their eyes.

"Well, it was like I was going through a very rapid flashback of my entire life," replied Stardust, who couldn't see what the young alicorn was doing since he was facing away from her. "It started from when I was a little boy, then to the first time I arrived in Ponyville..."

"Uh-huh, yep, yep, interesting," mumbled Twilight, writing as much as she could. "So, what else happened?"

Before Stardust could explain more about his "death experience", Miles made his way over to them. "I'm glad to see that you are alive, Stardust."

The gold pony looked at the yellow Pegasus pony in front of him, and a frown appeared on his face. "I can't exactly say that I'm glad to see _you_ , pal."

 _"Jack!"_ Princess Twilight exclaimed, resisting the urge to thump him across the head.

"Hey, you don't know how I felt to see AJ and Applebloom become damn apple sauce," replied Stardust, who still had mixed feelings about the apparent mind games. "Once I see that they're alive, I'll maybe act a little more nicer to him."

Miles sighed, deciding that it was time for him to leave, so he used the staff to create a portal that led to his world, and before stepping inside, he took a final look at all of the little ponies.

"Thank you, everypony... for all that you've done..."

 _Whoosh!_

The portal disappeared, and everypony started to look at each other.

"So... uh, how exactly are we going to get home?" Rainbow asked, after a moment of awkward silence.

Stardust chuckled, and took a quick look at his necklace, which contained the _special power_ he had earned. "I can take care of that."

He then turned his attention over to Princess Twilight. "You have _no idea_ how glad I'm going to feel once we're back in our own home."

"I'm _pretty sure_ that I do, Jack," replied his girlfriend, smiling back at him.

"But you _are coming_ to the party, right?"

Stardust looked at Pinkie Pie, who was staring right back at him, and he asked, "What party?"

Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes. "Well, _duh_ , the alternate-world-saving-and-making-new-friends-from-other-worlds party!"

"You're... inviting both of us?" Princess Twilight said, sounding surprised.

"Uh-huh, I sure am, Other Twilight," said Pinkie Pie, giving them a wide smile. "I am inviting you, Stardusty, and the other versions of us from your world to my super duper awesome party!"

Princess Twilight smiled, and was about to respond to her, but the gold Earth pony had something else to say first.

" _Yeah, that's... not happening_ , sorry," replied Stardust, who was shaking his head.

"You... don't want to come w my party?" Pinkie Pie asked, her smile going away as she started to become sad.

Stardust sighed, and was about to confirm what she had said when, to his surprise, Princess Twilight said, "Of course, Pinkie, I'd love to go... and I'm sure the others would, too."

" _What!?_ " Stardust couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Princess Twilight looked at her special somepony, and simply said, "You don't get to decide for me and the rest of our friends, Jack, when it comes to something as simple like this... it's _just_ a _party_."

Stardust could almost feel his muzzle drop, and before he could say anything to that, Pinkie Pie approached him, with eyes as big as a saddened puppy.

" _Can you please come to my party?"_

"I..." Stardust began to say, but he noticed that, once again, everypony else was looking at him. "Oh, come _on_!"

The wide-eyed and pink colored pony continued to look at him. "Can you _please, please, please_ come to my party? Please?"

Stardust wanted to say no, but he could feel the stares from everypony else, and Pinkie Pie looked like she was about to cry if she didn't hear the right answer.

 _What has_ _ **happened**_ _to me?_

"So... are you coming or not, sugarcube?" Applejack asked, raising her eyebrow at him.

Stardust hung his head down, placing a hoof on his forehead, and said, "Okay... _fine_... I will _come_... but can you have it tomorrow, at least? I would like to spend the rest of today in my own world."

Pinkie Pie instantly went back to her happy self, and let out a giggle. "You silly pony, you didn't really think I'd have it _today_ , did you?"

"It never stopped you before," muttered Stardust.

"Well, don't worry, I'll make sure to have it tomorrow," replied Pinkie. "And do you-"

The gold pony sighed, knowing what she was going to ask him. " _Yes,_ I pinkie promise to come... Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

To his surprise, Pinkie Pie giggled again, saying, "I wasn't going to ask you to do that, Stardusty, I was going to ask if you wanted something special to drink at the party."

 _Well, now, you definitely have to go, Jack._

Ignoring the voice of his elderly friend, the young pony replied, "It's _Stardust_ , Pinkie... and I'd like to drink some _Coca-Cola._ "

" _Hmmm..."_ said the party-planning pony. " _Not exactly_ a drink I'm familiar with, but I'll make sure to get you a bucket of it when you come tomorrow!"

As Stardust nodded his head, Princess Twilight whispered, "I thought that drink only existed in your world."

"Yeah, but after everything that _this_ Pinkie has done ever since she was able to find out who I was, I wouldn't be surprised if she did find a way to get it," replied Stardust.

Pinkie was about to ask him another question, but then, they all heard the voice of a familiar alicorn princess.

 _"I'm afraid there might not be a chance for the party, Pinkie."_

Everypony turned their heads to the side, and as Stardust saw who had spoken, he quickly became frustrated, exclaiming, _"Where... the [BEEP]... have YOU been?"_

Princess Celestia looked at Stardust, and her muzzle became a small smile. "I've heard so much about you, Stardust Balance... it's an honor to meet a heroic pony, such as yourself."

"Thanks, but that doesn't exactly _answer_ my question," replied the frustrated pony. "And I'm not exactly pleased to see you since the version of you from Miles' world is the whole reason all of this [BEEP] happened in the first place."

As the two of them spoke to each other, Casey turned to his side, and saw Twilight writing in her _Stardust_ notebook.

" _Really,_ Twilight?"

The young alicorn nodded her head, saying, "This is _very_ important for my story, Casey..."

Pinkie Pie walked over to one of the rulers of Equestria, and asked, "What do you mean there's not a chance?"

"I've been watching all of the worlds that you, Stardust, the two Twilights, and Casey have traveled to, making sure that they have been properly restored," explained Princess Celestia. "And now that Miles has returned to his, that leaves us with ours and theirs."

The white alicorn made a gesture towards Stardust and Princess Twilight, and Casey said, "Forgive me, your Highness, but I don't think there has been any damage to either of our worlds."

"I wish that were true, Casey," replied Princess Celestia, now looking sad and somewhat regretful about what she was going to say. "But the fact of the matter is that these events were never supposed to happen in the first place, so I have come up with only one solution."

Stardust raised an eyebrow, and frowned as he asked, "What would that be, _Celestia_?"

The ruler of Equestria looked over at Starlight, and said, "I believe that you've been able to succeed in learning how to perform the memory spell?"

"Um... yeah, I think... why?" The purple unicorn replied, who still did not remember that she'd used it on herself.

"It would be best for everypony if these events were forgotten," said Princess Celestia, but before she could explain more, Stardust chose to interrupt her.

"Are you [BEEP] _insane_?!" He yelled, outraged with her apparent solution. "That is literally the _worst_ thing you could possibly do!"

Princess Celestia looked at Stardust, and said, "I'm afraid there is not any other choice."

"To _hell_ there isn't, [BEEP]!" Stardust exclaimed, his eyes glowing with anger. "You cannot [BEEP] be this [BEEP] to suggest erasing all of this from our minds! How [BEEP] can you-"

 _"Jack, relax... let me handle this_ ," said the spirit of Starswirl, who had suddenly appeared next to the former human, and walked over to stand in front of Princess Celestia, bowing his head. " _Your Highness..."_

The white alicorn smiled, nodded her head, and Starswirl rose his head up. _"Forgive the foul language of my friend... he's not exactly fond of you."_

"And for a [BEEP] good reason," muttered the annoyed Earth Pony.

 _"Anyway... he is also correct, in a way,"_ replied Starswirl. _"You cannot simply erase the events that have happened from all of their minds... not when they have already established a bond of friendship, and I think both of our princesses of friendship can agree with me on that."_

Everypony looked at the two Twilights, with both of them nodding their heads, and Princess Celestia asked, "So, do you have another solution in mind, old friend?"

 _"Indeed I do, your Highness,"_ said Starswirl, and suddenly, two versions of the Crystal Mirror appeared a few feet away from them. _"Aside from these being a gateway to yours and our version of the world that Sunset Shimmer stays at, they can also be of one between your world and ours._ "

Applejack rose her hoof in the air, and asked, "Um, pardon my interruption, y'all, but what about all of those worlds that Twilight and the others went to, and that Rowan fella?"

" _Ah, yes, I was about to get to that,_ " responded the spirit. " _Since they were all able to be brought back to their rightful state, including Miles' world, I see no reason for either of us to travel to them ever again, so it would be best to close all possible entrances to those worlds, and only allowing passage between your world and ours._

 _"As for Rowan... well, I think Pinkie has made it so that he can never bother either of us ever again."_

Pinkie became surprised as she heard that, and asked, "Really? How did I do that?"

Starswirl was about to reply, but Princes Celestia chose to say, "I think that is a perfect idea, Starswirl... thank you for finding a way to avoid having Starlight perform her spell."

The purple unicorn let out a huge sigh of relief, which made Twilight chuckle, and she said, "Yes, _thank you_ , Starswirl, I didn't think I had enough energy to perform that type of spell."

Starswirl looked over at Twilight's pupil, and raised an eyebrow. _"And yet you were able to find energy to make an alteration to my Time Scroll, during your quest for revenge against Twilight and her friends, which could have ended almost as horrible if Rowan had taken over both our worlds?"_

Starlight quickly began to feel embarrassed, and she found herself stuttering as she said, "Well, I-I-I... t-that was such a l-long, er..."

 _"My dear, there is no reason to panic. I was merely being humorous... my apologies."_

"Oh... right," replied Starlight, letting out a nervous chuckle. "I mean... that's, uh, okay..."

Princess Celestia nodded her head, accepting Starswirl's suggestion, and Pinkie asked, "So I can still have my party, right? Cause Stardusty 'pinkie promised' me that he would go..."

She then turned to face Stardust, giving him a look that almost made him nervous. "... and _nopony_ breaks a pinkie promise."

Princess Celestia smiled, and said, "Yes, Pinkie, you may have your party."

" _Yippie_!" Pinkie Pie cried, her body filling up with excitement. "I'm gonna get started right away on what's going to happen tomorrow!"

Then, like a pinball in a machine, Pinkie bounced all around, and zoomed right through the portal that led to her world... leaving everypony speechless and silent for a few minutes.

"So, um... where exactly _did_ Rowan end up at?" wondered Fluttershy.

 _"Just know that he'll never bother any of us again, my dear_ ," replied Starswirl, smiling at the yellow Pegasus pony.

* * *

 **Meanwhile...**

Once Rowan had finally woken up, the first thing he saw was Twilight Sparkle sticking out her tongue at him.

"What the he... _aaagghh!"_

Rowan quickly moved away after seeing and realizing that the purple unicorn's body was not attached to her own head.

"No... oh, _no, no, no, no_ ," said Rowan, also figuring out where he was. "Please don't play that-"

 **Yes the perfect gift for me**

 **Is a smile as wide as a mile**

 **To make me happy as can be**

" _No!_ "

Rowan then looked up, and saw an alternate version of Pinkie Pie, who was preparing to unleash her own Super Spirit Bomb that would lead to the planet being destroyed.

 _"Noooooo!"_

* * *

The only ponies that were still in Limbo were Twilight, Casey, Stardust, and Princess Twilight, while everypony else had went back home.

"So, I guess we'll see you tomorrow, then?" Casey said.

Stardust nodded his head, and said, "Yes, as soon as I wake up... whenever that is."

Princess Twilight rolled her eyes at Stardust, and politely bid the other two ponies goodbye before entering the portal that led to her world.

As for the human-turned-pony himself, Stardust offered a hoofshake to Twilight, who surprised him by giving the young pony a hug instead.

"Thank you, Jack, for saving me and Starlight earlier," said Twilight, in a sweet tone that made Stardust feel a pleasing warmth in himself. "Or do you prefer Stardust?"

"Um... well, I _usually_ let only _my_ Twilight call me by my real name," explained Stardust, who was slightly blushing. "But you _are..._ well, _Twilight Sparkle,_ so... er, maybe you can call me that when it comes to moments like this."

Twilight smiled, and nodded her head, saying, "Fair enough..."

Then, before he could leave, the young alicorn gave him a kiss on the cheek, and teased him a little by saying, "I can see why she likes you."

Casey tried to hold in his laughter, while Stardust found himself unable to move.

"Uh... I... _whoa_!" Aside from his body temperature starting to heat up, Stardust didn't know what to say, but then, a purple limb came out from the portal, and pulled him inside, which left only Casey and Twilight to themselves.

"You ever gonna tell him about _the Adventures of Stardust_?" Casey asked, referring to her thick notebook that contained the abridged version of the gold pony's story.

"Maybe one day," replied Twilight, giving a shrug. "Besides, I'm not even calling it that anymore."

Casey smirked at his potential girlfriend, and asked, "What's the new title, then?"

Twilight told him what it was, and Casey began to laugh. "Yep, that makes sense."


	34. Friendship Party, Part 1

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 34 - Friendship Party, Part 1_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, and Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

 _Also, the song playing in the background is "You're A God" by Vertical Horizon... and yes, I'm aware that the lyrics don't match the story._

* * *

As Starswirl had said, all of the worlds that Twilight, Casey, Pinkie, Stardust, and Princess Twilight traveled to were rightfully restored, and following the elderly pony's suggestion, Princess Celestia made it so that nopony else would ever be to visit or cause any damage to them ever again.

 _I've got to be honest_

 _I think you know_

 _We're covered in lies and that's OK_

So, once Twilight and the others were back in the library (and seeing that they'd only been gone for about ten minutes), they all traveled to the Crystal Empire, which was where they planned to originally go in the first place.

After they had arrived, the Mane Six, Spike, and Starlight went to the Crystal Castle while Casey decided to pay a long-overdue visit to a certain unicorn.

#############

 **Knock-knock-knock!**

"I'll be right there," said Sunburst, walking away from the table to go and open his front door.

Once he did, the orange unicorn smiled as he saw who his visitor was. "Hi, Casey! It's certainly been a while..."

"Yeah, sorry about that," said Casey, feeling sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck with his hoof. "I know I haven't exactly been around to assist you with-"

"No need to worry, Casey," replied Sunburst, holding up one of his hoofs to silent him. "I actually think you're suited better with learning whatever you can from Princess Twilight."

Casey smiled, and said, "Thanks, Sunburst... but since I'm going to be here at the Crystal Empire today for a while, you mind helping me out with something?"

"Sure, of course," replied the young wizard, nodding his head. "What, um... is it exactly?"

Casey walked over to the nearest seat, sitting himself down, and said, "Well, it's something that I haven't told Twilight yet..."

 _There's somewhere beyond this I know_

 _But I hope I can find the words to say_

" _Sweet Celestia,_ darling, these look even more gorgeous than when _we_ were statues!"

Applejack rolled her eyes, and said, "Sometimes I worry about what your mind's actually made of, sugarcube."

Shining Armor and Princess Cadence had brought the seven ponies and little dragon to the room where Miles - I mean, _Rowan_ had turned five of them into statues, and now, there were actual statues on the stands, as well as ones of Twilight, Starlight -

"... and Discord?" pointed out Fluttershy, and everypony looked at what she was referring to.

There was a Discord statue next to Fluttershy's, and Shining Armor became confused. "Huh, I don't remember ever asking anyone to make that."

"Well, of _course,_ you didn't," replied Discord, with his stone-like body returning back to normal. "What do I ever get in return for all the heroic things that I've done?"

As he went to stand by the actual Fluttershy, the animal-loving Pegasus smiled at her friend, saying, "Um, I don't think you're exactly quite there yet... but at least you have more friends now than you did since I helped reform you."

"Ehhhh, that is _true_ ," replied Discord, nodding his head. "But _really_ , I mean... I helped Starlight save you all from the Changelings, and from that dragon version of Midnight Sparkle."

Rarity smirked at the ruler of disharmony, and said, "Ah, tomahto, tomato, darling... your time will come soon."

Twilight looked at her brother, and asked, "You think you could figure something out?"

"Sure, Twily, I'll be able to find something," replied Shining, giving his young and only sister a smile.

 _Never again no_

 _No never again_

Twilight then looked over at Spike, and said, "I'm sorry about your first statue getting destroyed..."

"Nah, don't even worry about it, Twilight,: replied Spike, shaking his head. "Besides, the second version that they made looks even better!"

 _'Cause you're a god_

 _And I am not_

 _And I just thought_

 _That you would know_

 _You're a god_

 _And I am not_

 _And I just thought_

 _I'd let you go_

* * *

 **Back in Stardust's World...**

"... so you got kissed on the cheek by a parallel version of Twilight?"

Stardust chuckled, and he replied, "Yes, Spike, but she only did it as a way of thanking me for saving her life."

The two of them were in the Throne Room, and Stardust had just finished explaining to Spike what happened during the entire (and unsurprisingly short amount of) time he and Twilight had been gone.

"You also kissed an alternate version of Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and even Princess Cadence?"

Stardust started to have a few mixed feelings inside himself again as he answered, "Yeah, but... that was something I just _had_ to do, in order for us to fix the worlds we went to... you understand, right?"

The young dragon nodded his head, and replied, "Oh, yeah, of course, bro... um, did it felt _weird_ to kiss them?"

"..."

"..."

Stardust sighed, and he answered, "Personally, little bro, I was indifferent to them kissing me... _maybe_ a different case regarding Fluttershy since I know she used to have a crush on me, but _do not_ ever tell them or anypony else that I said that. Got it?"

"Yeah, no problem," said the young dragon. "But just so we're clear... you, in no way at all, enjoyed your kiss with the alternate version of Rarity?"

Stardust turned to look at Spike, and asked, "Out of all the questions you could have asked me, you chose _that_ one?"

"Hey, you can't blame me for asking, Star," said Spike, giving him a shrug. "You know how I feel about her."

Stardust smirked at him, and said, "I know, bro, and like I said, I was indifferent to those kisses... so don't worry, you're still the only one I know that has a deep love for Rarity."

Spike's smile grew wide acted he heard the gold pony say that, and after they talked to each other a little more, the young dragon headed off to do his own thing while Stardust looked at his newly-obtained necklace.

"Okay, I _definitely_ could have used something like this for certain events that happened a while back."

 _"True, but you wouldn't have learned the same lessons you learned, or had the same experiences that helped you grow and become the pony you are today, Jack,"_ replied Starswirl, from inside of Stardust's mind.

Stardust rolled his eyes, saying, "You know, pal, I'm starting to wonder what else you've kept from me over all these years..."

Before the elderly pony could say anything to that, one of the doors opened, and Stardust heard a familiar voice.

"You talkin' to yourself again, sugarcube?"

 _But I've been unable_

 _To put you down_

 _I'm still learning things I ought to know by now_

Applejack entered the room, along with Twilight and Applebloom, and as Stardust carefully walked over to them, she asked, "You okay, Star?"

"Um..." Stardust carefully raised up one of his hooves, and touched her stetson hat a few times. "Just... fine... you _are_ , er, _you_ , right?"

"Uh... yeah?" Applejack replied, sounding confused. "Star, why - _oof_!"

Her sentence was cut short after Stardust, to AJ's surprise, wrapped his limbs around her, giving the farmer pony a warm hug, and making Twilight and Applebloom smile.

"You don't how happy I am right now to see you, AJ," said the gold pony, relieved that she hadn't become "apple sauce" after all.

Applejack's muzzle slowly became a smile, and she eventually hugged him back, making Stardust feel even warmer inside knowing that one of his closest friends was alive.

"Twilight told me about what happened with what that Rowan fella showed you," she said, once they were apart from each other. "He never showed up, Star, we've been at the same spot you saw us before you two left almost ten or twelve minutes ago."

Stardust opened his mouth to speak, but then, Applebloom looked up at him, and asked, "Hey, don't I get a hug, too?"

"Of course, you do," answered Stardust, and he knelt down to give the little pony a hug.

Then, with a chuckle, he began to give her a noogie, and Applebloom started to laugh, along with Twilight and Applejack. "Aw, come on, Star, I already get enough of those from my big sister!"

 _It's under the table so_

 _I need something more to show somehow_

* * *

 _(Starity World)_

"Whoa, _seriously_?"

Rarity nodded her head, and smiled as she said, "Certainly, darling... do you like it?"

"It's _perfect_ ," said Alternate Stardust, as he put on the cloak.

The unicorn's smile grew wider as she made a mental note to thank the other versions of her friends and special somepony for bringing her Stardust back

 _Never again no_

 _No never again_

 _'Cause you're a god_

 _And I am not_

 _And I just thought_

 _That you would know_

* * *

 _(Flutterdust)_

"What are you doing again?"

The young Pegasus pony replied, "Writing a thank-you letter to send to the other Stardust for bringing you back to me."

Alternate Stardust chuckled, and said, "Um, I think it might be a little hard to get that to him."

"True, but it'll make me feel better." Fluttershy said, hoping that the other Stardust would know somehow that she truly appreciated all of his help.

 _You're a god_

 _And I am not_

 _And I just thought_

 _I'd let you go_

* * *

 _(Sunset Balance World)_

EG Stardust was laying back against a tree, while Sunset was laying against his chest, and the young teenager had his arms wrapped around her.

"And I thought things couldn't get any weirder here," said Sunset, who had finished telling her boyfriend about what had happened with the other Stardust.

He kissed the top of her head, and began to laugh. "I'm just glad he brought me back to you... _and_ totally wrecked Flash's car in the process."

"You _do_ realize that you could probably be arrested if they ever find out that _you_ stole a car," teased Sunset, which made Stardust roll his eyes, and let out a sarcastic laugh.

"The day I get arrested here is the day that Principal Celestia leaves Canterlot High."

 _I've got to be honest_

 _I think you know_

 _We're covered in lies and that's OK_

* * *

"You okay, Casey?" Twilight asked, who was now back in her library after everypony had returned to their homes.

Casey sighed, and nodded his head. "Yeah, but... see, there's something that I haven't told you yet, Twilight, about-"

"Your parents' death being caused by my battle with Tirek?"

 _There's somewhere beyond this I know_

 _But I hope I can find the words to say_

Casey's mind went blank for a moment, and then, he said, "Um, yeah, but how-"

"Sunset told me a few days after she used her powers on you," explained the young alicorn, nodding her head over at the book she used as a way to communicate with the former pupil of Princess Celestia. "She saw your memories from what happened that day you asked her to try it on you..."

Twilight walked over to him, and gave him a warm smile. "I am truly sorry about that, Casey, but from what Sunset told me, they're in a better place, watching over you."

 _Never again no_

 _No never again_

"Thanks, Twilight," replied Casey. "And don't worry, I never really blamed you at all.. but, um, since we're still talking..."

"You'd like to go out on a date?"

Casey was speechless again, while Twilight started to laugh. "I was kind of hoping you say that... did you want to go the day after the party tomorrow?"

"Ye... yeah," chuckled Casey, once he was able to speak again. "But can I make a suggestion?"

"Sure," said Twilight. "What is it?"

 _Please don't hurt me for this, Stardust_ , thought Casey before giving his response.

"Let's not do what _they_ did, and go to a place where they serve weird, fancy-ish food and could end up being spied on by our friends."

 _'Cause you're a god_

 _And I am not_

 _And I just thought_

 _That you would know_

 _You're a god_

 _And I am not_

 _And I just thought_

 _I'd let you go_

* * *

 **The next day**

"So, let me get this straight," said Rainbow. "The Pinkie Pie from _Casey's_ world invited all six of us, plus you and Starlight, to a party that she's having at their version of Twilight's castle?"

"More or less, yes," confirmed Stardust, nodding his head. "Weird, right?"

Applejack shrugged her shoulders, and said, "Considering what's happened ever since you first came to Ponyville, sugarcube... not really."

"What _I_ find to be weird is that _you_ actually agreed to go," replied Rainbow, looking at him suspiciously. "I thought you would've told them no."

"Oh, he _tried_ to, at first," pointed out Twilight. "But he made a pinkie promise to their Pinkie, and now, he has to go whether he likes to or not."

Before Stardust could say anything, Spike let out a yawn, and started walking back towards his room. "Enjoy the party, you guys... I'm going to bed..."

"I wish I was going to bed... _ow,_ " mumbled Stardust, who then got a thump to the back of his head from Twilight.

Rainbow started to laugh, while Pinkie smiled, and said, "Good for you, Stardust, cause you can _never_ break a pinkie promise."

"I'm well aware of that," replied the young pony. "So, would you all like to come?"

"Uh, _yeah_ ," said a grinning Rainbow Dash. "I've always wondered what it felt like to actually challenge myself... and now, I'll be able to find out!"

"I don't mind goin' to the party," replied Applejack. "Just as long as me and the 'other me' have stuff to chat about."

The rest of their friends didn't have any other problem with going, so Stardust sighed again, and said, "Well, alright, then, let's go..."

* * *

"Be right back, Coloratura!"

Pinkie's _other-worlds-saving_ party was being held in Twilight's castle, and it seemed like it would be one of her best parties that she'd ever thrown... as well as one of her strangest.

" _Hmmm... how do I do this the right way?_ " Pinkie Pie wondered, and after a few more seconds of thinking, her eyes lit up. "I've got it!"

She then took a deep breath, and began introducing everypony to each other.

"Twilight and Princess Twilight, this is Sci Twi... Applejack and Applejack, this is Human Applejack... Rarity and Rarity, this is Human Rarity... Other Me, this is Human Us... Fluttershy and Fluttershy, this is Human Fluttershy... Rainbow and Rainbow, this is Human Rainbow... Starlight, meet Other World Starlight... Sunset, Sugarcoat, and Sour Sweet, these are all other versions of ourselves that came with Stardust and Princess Twilight... am I missing anypony else?"

Everypony looked at each other, and they all shook their heads, which made Pinkie's smile grow wider. " _Awesome_! Enjoy the party, everypony!"

Then, in the blink of an eye, she was gone, along with the other two Pinkie's, and as everypony splitted apart from each other, Stardust shook his head, saying, "I can't believe this is-"

"Oh, before I forget, here ya go, Stardust!"

The young pony turned his head to see Pinkie bring over an iced bucket of actual _Coca-Cola_ bottles.

"I know a pony," explained Pinkie, seeing his surprised and confused face, and she left before he could say anything else.

"Huh, maybe this party might not be so bad after all..." said Stardust, as he tried to open the bottle. "How... in Equestria do you..."

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to mention that you can twist them off," added Pinkie, who appeared from out of nowhere, taking the soda bottle from his hooves, and using her own hoof to twist the lid off.

 _Pop!_

She handed the drink back to Stardust, and took off running again, leaving the young pony to chuckle before taking a few sips. "I don't think I'll ever get used to Pinkie Pie."


	35. Friendship Party, Part 2

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 35 - Friendship Party, Part 2_

 _Author's Note - "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight, whom I own a debt of gratitude to for allowing me to use his OC in this story, and the next one... despite everything I've put Stardust through, as well as what will happen later on._

 _Also, the following songs in this penultimate chapter are "We Are" by Keke Palmer, from ICE AGE 4, and "The Magic Inside", plus "Equestria, My Home" from the MLP episode "The Mane Attraction"._

* * *

"Well, howdy, Rara," said Applejack, as she walked over to her musically talented friend. "I thought I heard Pinkie say your name... glad you could make it."

The light blue and grey Earth pony smiled, and gave her childhood filly friend a hug. "AJ, hi... yeah, I'm sorry I haven't been around since the music festival."

"Ah, no need to be apologizing, sugarcube," replied Applejack. "Your life must be one barrel of craziness as a world-famous pop singer."

Coloratura chuckled, and agreed with the hard-working Earth Pony. "That's true in so many ways... but luckily, my world tour just ended a few weeks ago, and I have some time left before my new manager finds something else for me to do."

Hearing that her friend had another manager now, Applejack started to frown, and she asked, "Exactly _how much_ time is this new manager pony of yours givin' you?"

"Well, let's just say that it's enough time for me to accept an offer from Twilight to stay in one of the rooms here," replied Coloratura. "And I'll be able to be with you and the rest of your friends."

Applejack's frown quickly went away, and she said, "Now, that sounds like a pretty darn good manager, and a lot better than that Svengallop pony... plus, that was mighty nice of Twilight to offer you a room."

"Indeed, it was," agreed Coloratura, as she noticed the alicorn princess talking to other ponies. "You're certainly lucky to have a friend like here, AJ."

"Aw, shucks, Rara, you don't have to say..."

She paused her sentence to take another look around the large room, and noticed that there was a stage set-up with a piano, as well as places for other ponies to play their own instruments.

 _Plus, I think I saw Octavia and Fancypants earlier,_ thought Applejack.

"... um, I'm guessing you're gonna sing that one song of yours everypony likes?"

Turning her head to look in the same direction of her friend, Coloratura chuckled, and gave Applejack a teasing wink as she said, "Maybe, but you'll have to find out later on, like everypony else..."

Applejack rolled her eyes, but the two of them ended up sharing a laugh together.

Then, she was about to ask Coloratura more about the tour when the singer finally noticed that her friend wasn't alone.

"Um, AJ... why do I see two ponies that look almost exactly like you?"

 _And here comes the confusing stuff,_ thought Applejack, who then cleared her throat before making an introduction.

"This here is a version of me that came from the world that Sunset Shimmer stays at, and she's a version of me that came from another dimension."

"Howdy, Rara," replied both EG Applejack and Alternate Applejack.

Coloratura looked back and forth between her friend and the other two versions of AJ, and said, "I must've been gone longer than I thought."

 _"Oh my gosh, you're actually here!"_

They turned around to see a trio of little ponies, known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, run over to Coloratura, and Sweetie Belle was the first one to speak.

"Are you singing later tonight?"

Coloratura chuckled, and replied, "You'll have to find out later, I'm afraid... isn't that right, AJ?"

"Yep, sure is," replied Applejack, but then, she frowned after realizing that the other two AJ's had said the same thing.

"So... which one's your sister, Applebloom?" asked Scootaloo, looking at the three identical Earth ponies. "I just finished trying to figure out which Rainbow Dash was which."

"That'll be me," answered Applejack, walking over to her little sister. "Sorry if this is confusin' you, sis."

The light-yellow pony shook her head, and said, "I knew it was you, anyway."

" _Sure you did_ ," teased Sweetie Belle, while Scootaloo started to laugh.

"Well, let's see _you_ try," replied Applebloom, as she pointed her hoof at the group of Rarity ponies.

"Oh, my..." gasped Sweetie Belle, not realizing that there was now three versions of her big sister at the party.

* * *

Speaking of Rainbow Dash, she was having a conversation with her two counterparts about which one of them was the best.

"Uh, _me,_ that's a no-brainer," exclaimed EG Rainbow, as she bounced her soccer ball on top of the table they were sitting at. "I mean, I'm the best at pretty much _every sport_ at my school, I have my own band and hit song, and this little baby right here gives me super speed!"

She was referring to the geode necklace that she was wearing, and Alternate Rainbow argued, "Well, that just means you're as fast as us... and also, I think _I'm_ the one who deserves to be known as the best."

"You two willing to put your bits where your muzzle is?" Rainbow Dash challenged, raising an eyebrow at her other selves, and offering a hoofshake to both of them.

"You're on," said the two Rainbows, shaking her hooves, and Rainbow Dash chuckled mischievously as she revealed the way for them to find out who was the best.

* * *

As for Rarity, she and the alternate version of herself from Stardust's world were listening to EG Rarity tell her story about what had happened at Camp Everfree.

"... and you cannot _believe_ my reaction when Pinkie destroyed my runway _again_ ," exclaimed EG Rarity, letting out a dramatic sigh. "It's a miracle I was able to have my fashion show before we went back home."

The two other ponies looked at each other, and Rarity said, "Um, forgive me, darling, but I think you mean to say that the _dock_ was destroyed."

"Oh, you sound like the rest of my friends," replied EG Rarity, shaking her head. "Which also sounds weird coming from me, since we all have the same voice."

Alternate Rarity was about to speak, but Sweetie Belle came over, and asked, "Excuse me, but which one of you is actually my sister?"

"You mean you can't even tell?" EG Rarity said, letting out a fake gasp. "I am so appalled, Sweetie Belle..."

"Hey, don't you start teasing her," said Alternate Rarity. "It's not her fault we three look almost completely the same."

Rarity sighed, and shook her head as she walked over to the small unicorn. "Don't you worry, Sweetie Belle, there's always going to be one of me here."

"Absolutely, we're just visiting," replied EG Rarity.

Sweetie Belle blinked her eyes a few times, and looked up at her sister. "You don't think this is confusing, big sis?"

"Well, of _course, I do_ ," replied Rarity, wrapping a limb around the little pony. "But I can honestly say that I'm not surprised by this."

* * *

Fluttershy was having a nice conversation with her two counterparts until Discord suddenly appeared next to her.

"Ah, _there you are_ , Fluttershy," said the master of chaos. "I was beginning to think I'd never find you in this... _oh_!"

Discord looked at the two identical versions of Fluttershy, and said, "Well, fancy that... I never knew you had twin sisters."

"Well, I don't actually," corrected the animal-loving pony. "She's from Sunset Shimmer's world, and she's from another world that is parallel to ours."

" _You don't say_?" Discord said, sounding surprised. "How peculiar... and surprising to see that we haven't blown up."

A few feet away, at a table, Pinkie Pie (who had heard their conversation) started to frown. "You know what, Pinkie #2 and 3?"

"What is it, Pinkie Prime?" asked the other versions of Pinkie.

"I'm beginning to think that the whole _paradox_ thing doesn't even exist at all," replied Pinkie Pie, with her other selves nodding in agreement.

* * *

Twilight and Starlight, as well as Princess Twilight and Starlight's parallel counterpart, had eventually taken their conversation to the library, leaving Casey alone with Sci Twi, and Stardust to his bucket of _Coke_ bottles.

 _Enjoying the party?_

"From right here, yes," muttered Stardust, in a low voice so that nobody could hear him.

 _Why not go over to anypony else, and talk to them?_

"Because I don't want to get too attached to this world," replied the young pony. "I also want to avoid bringing any kind of danger to-"

"Well, _this_ is a surprise," interrupted Sour Sweet, in a negative tone, while Sugarcoat stood beside her. "I didn't expect to see _you_ here."

 _Just my damn luck,_ thought Stardust, and said, "The same could be said for _you_... have you been nice to Sci Twi?"

"Oh, we've just been the _best_ of friends," replied the bipolar human-turned-mare, a bright smile on her face. "But, um... how did _you_ know about her?"

" _Star Sense_ ," muttered Stardust, being sarcastic. "And, hello to you, too Sugarcoat... still being your usual blunt self?"

The blue-greyish pony gave him a small smile, and asked, "Still feel indifferent towards us?"

"Yep," replied Stardust, nodding his head.

Sour Sweet was about to say something when Sunset appeared, saying, "Alright, you two, leave him alone..."

"We weren't doing anything _wrong_ ," hissed the bipolar pony. "I just wanted to have a decent conversation with him."

"She's right, Sour," replied Sugarcoat, grabbing her friend's limb to pull her away. "Leave him to his bucket of soda pop."

As the two of them walked away, Sunset gave an apologetic smile to Stardust. "I'm sorry about that... um, Starlight, right?"

"It's Star _dust_ ," corrected the human-turned-pony, who suddenly started feeling strange. "Starlight is the purple unicorn that Twilight has as a pupil."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," apologized Sunset. "I've met so many ponies with similar names, and with what I deal with back in the world I stay at, it's hard to remember who is who... I mean, there's _Twilight, Midnight, Starlight, Stardust_..."

" _Hey, Sunset, you done yet?"_ yelled Sour Sweet, who was now several feet away from them. "You _were_ the one who brought us here!"

Sunset looked at Stardust, who smirked at her, saying, "Go on... I'll be fine."

The yellow pony smiled, and bid him goodbye before walking over to her friends, leaving Stardust alone again.

"Why did I feel weird when she messed up my name?" wondered Stardust, who was moving on to his next bottle of _Coke_.

 _I believe it's the fact that you miss the Sunset from our version of the Equestria Girls world_ , explained Starswirl, which made Stardust roll his eyes.

"That's certainly not it," muttered the young pony. "Besides, her place is in that world, just as my place is in... well, our version of Equestria."

 _True, but ever since that night in Miss Pie's kitchen, you've grown to care for her just as your beloved has with Starlight?_

Then, before Stardust could say anything, he found himself having a flashback to that exact night, where he'd decided that he would be a better mentor to Sunset than Princess Celestia could ever be.

 _Did you not also tell yourself that you would be like an older brother to her, or even a role model, if necessary?_

"You... _ugh_..." groaned Stardust, who found himself agreeing with the ancient pony. "Alright, fine, I _sometimes_ miss her, but like I said, she-"

"Hey, Stardust," said Sunset, who had suddenly appeared next to him.

"Yeah, hi... like I said, Starswirl, she belongs _You-Know-Where_ , and I-"

Sunset interrupted his conversation by saying, "So, that's all I get from you?"

Stardust rolled his eyes, and replied, "I'm sorry, but we just talked earlier, remember? You forgot my name..."

"No, I didn't," replied Sunset, frowning at him. "I just got here, and I said your name right."

Stardust shook his head, and said, "You must have a really bad memory because you were _just_ here, then went over _there_ to-"

He found himself cutting his sentence short when he saw that Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet were still talking to... Sunset, and he looked back at the Sunset in front of him, realizing that he had made a mistake.

 _Starswirl, did you...?_

 _(Starswirl) I had nothing to do with this._

"You... her... I..." Stardust looked back and forth between the two Sunsets, and a sheepish smile appeared on his face. "Hi, Sunset."

EG Sunset smirked at her friend, and said, "You certainly haven't changed since the last time we saw each other."

"Oh, do _not_ remind me about those events, please," exclaimed Stardust, which made the yellow unicorn chuckle. "I'm guessing you got a Pinkie Pie invitation?"

She shook her head, to his surprise, and said, "Twilight actually invited me here... she figured you wouldn't have anypony else to talk to."

Before Stardust could reply back, the young pony noticed that he didn't feel so strange anymore.

 _I told you, Jack._

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," muttered Stardust, not wanting to admit that Starswirl had been right, while EG Sunset took a seat next to him.

"So, I take it you and Twilight have been pretty busy yourselves?"

Stardust began to laugh, and he replied, "That would be an understatement, Sunset... see, I was-"

"Well, look at that, you have your own necklace now," Sunset said, looking at the silver accessory around his neck. "Does that mean you have magic inside of you like-"

"Nope, nope, nope," replied Stardust, shaking his head. "This is _nothing_ like the geode necklaces you and the others have... and you wouldn't _believe_ what I went through to get it."

"Oh?" EG Sunset said, raising an eyebrow. "Humor me, then..."

Stardust chuckled, and replied, "You asked for it."

However, his nose smelled something familiar, and he noticed that Sunset had also brought a rather large square-shaped box. "You didn't..."

"You may have beaten the others in a 'pizza eating' contest, Jack, but you've never gone up against me," challenged EG Sunset, while Stardust chugged the rest of his soda, tossing it into a nearby trashbin, and opening another one.

"Bring it on, Shimmer..."

 _Don't blame me if you can't sleep later tonight,_ said Starswirl.

* * *

 _ **Several hours later...**_

As Coloratura stood atop the stage, taking her seat at the piano, Stardust and EG Sunset had finally been approached by Princess Twilight, who asked, "Have you two been enjoying yourselves?"

"Uh-huh, " replied Stardust, his stomach completely full, while Sunset nodded her head. "How'd it go in the library?"

Princess Twilight was about to answer, but then, she was interrupted by Colartura's singing voice.

 _I'm here to show you who I am_

 _Throw off the veil, it's finally time_

 _There's more to me than glitz and glam, oh-whoa_

 _And now I feel my stars align_

From the side of the stage, Applejack couldn't help but feel teary-eyed as one of her closest friends sang her heart out, and neither could her other selves, who were also getting ready to cry themselves.

 _For I had believed what I was sold_

 _I did all the things that I was told_

 _But all that has changed, and now I'm bold_

The lights inside of the castle began to lower their brightness, with only a bright stage light shining on Coloratura.

 _'Cause I know_

 _That I am just a pony_

 _I make mistakes from time to time_

 _But now I know the real me_

 _And put my heart out on the line_

 _And let the magic in my heart stay true_

 _Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa_

 _And let the magic in my heart stay true_

 _Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa_

 _Just like the magic inside of you_

All of the unicorns in the room started using their horns as lighters, including the three versions of Twilight, Rarity, and the two versions of Sunset.

 _And now I see those colors_

 _Right before my eyes_

 _I hear my voice so clearly_

 _And I know that it is right_

 _They thought I was weak, but I am strong_

 _They sold me the world, but they were wrong_

 _And now that I'm back, I still belong_

Once her vocals started rising up, Coloratura's musical note Cutie Mark began shining brightly, just like the other times that Applejack (and her self from another dimension) had seen.

 _'Cause I know_

 _That I am just a pony_

 _I make mistakes from time to time_

 _But now I know the real me_

 _And put my heart out on the line_

 _And let the magic in my heart stay true_

 _Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa_

 _And let the magic in my heart stay true_

 _Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa_

 _Just like the magic inside of you_

 _Just like the magic inside of you..._

After singing her final note, Coloratura said, "Everypony, please, hold your applause until I conclude with another song that's dear to my heart... as well as one of my bestest friends."

Then, once the Cutie Mark Crusaders were on-stage with her, Coloratura also turned to look at Applejack, motioning for her to join them, and that is just what the farmer pony did.

EG Applejack found herself about to do the same thing, but Parallel Applejack brought her back down, and shaking her head.

"That's meant for _that_ Applejack, sugarcube, not us," reminded the teenager-turned-pony.

As the other version of Applejack sighed, then nodding her understanding, she and everypony else watched the five ponies sing another familiar song.

 _Equestria, the land I love_

 _A land of harmony_

 _Our flag does wave from high above_

 _For ponykind to see_

 _Equestria, a land of friends_

 _Where ponykind do roam_

 _They say true friendship never ends_

 _Equestria, my home_

Sweetie Belle then used her magic to levitate a triangle-shaped instrument next to Applejack, whom happily played the same single note she'd played the other two times, and everypony gave their applause.

After it died down, Twilight took to the stage, and said, "Thanks again to Coloratura... or, _Rara_ , actually, for willing to sing for us tonight, especially after concluding her world tour a few days ago.

"Next up, we have another surprise that I hope you'll all enjoy... Sunset?"

Stardust turned to look at his friend, but EG Sunset chuckled, and shook her head.

The _other_ Sunset, as well as Sci Twi and the rest of the EG versions of the Mane Six, took to the stage, making Stardust roll his eyes.

"Great... now I'm gonna be reminded of the world that I hate so much," muttered Stardust, which caused Princess Twilight to thump him across the head. " _Ow..._ hey, you know it's true!"

Princess Twilight sighed, and she said, "Yes, but please, for once, Jack, try and enjoy the performance without complaining in any way."

As Sunset and the rest of her friends started setting up their instruments, Stardust chuckled, and said, "I can't make any promises, love..."

However, once they started to sing a song that he'd never heard from them before, the human-turned-pony found himself feeling different about it.

 _We are, we are_

 _Not your ordinary fama-mily_

 _But we can all agree that_

 _We are, we are_

 _Close as close can be_

 _So it don't matter what it looks like_

 _We look perfect to me_

 _We got every kind of love_

 _Yeah, we're so lucky indeed_

 _They can keep on talking_

 _It don't matter to me cause_

 _We are, we are family_

 _We are are are are (We are are)_

 _We are are are are (We are are)_

 _We are are are are (We are are)_

 _We are, we are family, family, family_

 _We are, we are family_

 _[EG Rainbow] So what?_

 _We don't look, we don't act_

 _[EG Pinkie]_

 _We don't walk, we don't talk_

 _Like you do_

 _[Sci Twi]_

 _So what?_

 _If we hang just a hang and no shame_

 _[EG Rarity]_

 _We both do what we want to_

 _[EG Applejack]_

 _Cause we come from everywhere_

 _[EG Fluttershy]_

 _Searching for ones to care_

 _[Sunset]_

 _Somehow we found it here_

 _We found us a home_

 _[All]_

 _We are, we are_

 _Not your ordinary fami-mily_

 _But we can all agree that_

 _We are, we are_

 _Close as close can be_

Stardust almost felt his muzzle drop to the ground. _It's certainly an improvement over other songs I've heard from that universe._

As for EG Sunset, she was trying to remember as much of the lyrics as she could, so she could tell her friends back in her own world.

 _So it don't matter what it looks like_

 _We look perfect to me_

 _We got every kind of love_

 _Yeah?,, we're so lucky indeed_

 _They can keep on talking_

 _It don't matter to me cause_

 _We are, we are family_

 _[EG Rainbow] Ok, so the links in our chains makes us strange_

 _[EG Applejack]_

 _But really they make us stronger_

 _[EG Fluttershy]_

 _And no one would replace not a thing_

 _[EG Pinkie] Mother or father_

 _Cause we..._

 _[EG Rarity] Cause we come from everywhere_

 _Searching for ones to care_

 _[Sci Twi]_

 _Somehow we found it here_

 _[Sci Twi and Sunset]_

 _We found us a home_

 _[All]_

 _We are, we are_

 _Not your ordinary fami-mily_

 _But we can all agree that_

 _We are, we are_

 _Close as close can be_

 _So it don't matter what it looks like_

 _We look perfect to me_

 _We got every kind of lover_

 _We're so lucky indeed_

 _They can keep on talking_

 _It don't matter to me cause_

 _We are, we are family_

 _(Family)_

 _(We are, we are)_

 _We are, we are family_

As everypony applauded for Sunset and the others, a smile appeared on the clapping Stardust.

 _Like I said, an improvement over the other songs..._


	36. Till Next Time

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 36 - Till Next Time_

 _Author's Note - "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight.  
_

* * *

Once the party was over, everypony who hadn't left decided to pitch in, and help out with cleaning up the leftover mess from the party.

"So... you basically turn into some kind of... what did you say... _super saiyan pony_?" Sunset - the one from Stardust's world - asked, once the gold pony had finished telling her the story.

The two of them were also actually in the library, having already done their fair share of cleaning, and as Stardust looked down at his necklace, he said, "Yeah, pretty much... although the only complaint I have is that it's my actual f***in Cutie Mark."

 _Jack, we talked about this already._

Stardust muttered some words under his breath while Sunset suddenly became surprised, and asked, "What in the... was that _Starswirl?"_

The young pony paused his drinking from the _Coke_ bottle to look back at his friend.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I forgot," chuckled Stardust, who also had his soda bucket nearby. "Since this world isn't like ours, it allows others beside me to hear what he is saying."

Sunset just looked at her friend, trying to imagine herself seeing the ancient pony, and said, "Um... hi, there, Starswirl."

 _Hello, Miss Shimmer, and what a pleasure it is to speak to you... I take it you plan on having another eating contest in the future with Jack?_

"Well, that depends on him," repliedSunset, smirking at Stardust. "I mean, I _am_ the one who finished all of _my_ slices first."

Stardust rolled his eyes, and argued, "You are so delusional... _I'm_ the one who won this contest, not you!"

Sunset frowned, and pointed out, "You didn't even finish the crust on your last piece of pizza!"

"So? It's not my fault that they f***ed it up," exclaimed Stardust. "I won fair and square... right, Starswirl?"

 _I'm afraid I will have to side with her on this one._

Sunset gave Stardust a smug look, while he frowned, and said, "Well, _fine_ then, I'll prove it to you in a rematch... the next time you come to Ponyville... _our_ version, I mean..."

"Well, I'll still be there for a few more days," replied a grinning Sunset. "How about tomorrow?"

"Fine by me," said Stardust, and the two of them shook each others hooves, which caused Starswirl to sigh.

 _You'd better not blame me for any lack of sleep._

Ignoring his friend, Stardust began looking around the library, curious to see if there were any books that he would enjoy reading.

"Hey, Stardust, come look at this one I found..."

The young pony walked back over to his friend, and noticed that she was pointing at a book that had caught Sunset's interest.

"Did you want to read it?" Sunset asked, with Stardust flipping the book over to look at the title.

" _A Journey Beyond Sanity_... huh..." Stardust thought about it for a moment, and then, he simply shook his head. "Ehhh, doesn't really sound that interesting to me."

Before Sunset could respond to that, Twilight entered the library, along with the rest of their friends, except for Applejack, who was helping Rara settle into one of the guest rooms.

"Okay, hold up a second," exclaimed Stardust, raising one of his hooves in the air. "Can everypony that _I_ know personally stand over _here,_ please?"

So, then, after a few minutes, on one side of the room was Twilight, Casey, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Starlight, while the other side had Stardust, Princess Twilight, their respective versions of the rest of the Mane Six and Starlight, and Sunset.

"Now, _this_ is better," said Stardust, before going back to his soda pop bottle.

Princess Twilight gave her special somepony a disapproving look, and asked, "Haven't you already drank enough of those, Jack?"

"I know when I've reached my limit, love, and I haven't just yet," replied Stardust, which made Princess Twilight roll her eyes at him.

" _Sooooo..._ " Pinkie said, looking at Stardust with a wide smile on her face. "Did you enjoy the party?"

Stardust pretended to think about it for a moment, and he replied, "Surprisingly, Pinkie... yes, I actually enjoyed it... thank you for- _oof_!"

Pinkie wrapped her two front limbs around Stardust, giving him a warm hug, and said, "You're welcome... plus, I knew you'd say you did anyway. Who _doesn't_ love any of my parties?"

Stardust chuckled while softly giving Pinkie a pat on the back, and as she walked back to her side of the library, he replied, "Yeah, yeah, just... leave all of the other possible parties that have to do with me for the Pinkie from _my_ world, alright?"

"Sure thing, Stardusty," said Pinkie, giving her new friend a salute. "And you can take the rest of the sodas with you!"

Not really in the mood to correct her for saying his name wrong, especially since she told him that he could keep the _Coke_ bottles, Stardust simply nodded his head, while Rainbow walked over to her other self.

"You'd better be here for _Round 1_ tomorrow, just like Human Rainbow, so we can start figuring out who exactly is the best Rainbow Dash."

"I'm looking forward to it," grinned Rainbow's alternate counterpart, with the two of them shaking hooves before Alternate Rainbow went through the Crystal Mirror's magical portal.

She was soon followed by the alternate versions of Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Starlight, and Pinkie, leaving only Stardust and Princess Twilight, as well as Sunset.

Clearing his throat, Stardust walked over to Casey, and said, "You know, I'm beginning to wonder if _you're_ supposed to be this world's version of me."

"Well... I doubt that," replied Casey, while Twilight was now looking through her _Stardust_ notes to see if she had missed something. "I mean, from what your Twilight and our Pinkie told me... I'm not from Earth... or speak British... or use 'beeps' to cover up certain words... or even have my own super powers."

Stardust chuckled, and explained, "No, not literally, Casey... I meant regarding _your_ Twilight, and that... if I could imagine a pony besides me and..."

He took a moment to avoid saying the names of two certain characters he despised heavily. "Well... yeah, you would probably be a good match for Twilight."

Casey and Twilight both blushed a little, and the orange-yellow pony smiled. "Thanks, Ja- Stardust... you're a really cool friend."

"Yeah, well, just be glad you didn't know before I started falling for Twilight," replied Stardust, giving a small shrug.

"Why?" Casey said, tilting his head to the side. "What were you like?"

"He was a real ****," said Twilight, surprising everypony except Princess Twilight and Sunset. "Or at least, that's what the other me said."

Before Stardust could reply back, Parallel Twilight chuckled, and said, "And that's the closest you'll ever get to hearing me curse, Jack... ever..."

"Eh, I'll take it," said the young pony, giving a small shrug. "But now we've reached that point again..."

"Yeah, he's right," added Casey, letting out a sigh. "The whole 'what do we know' moment... do we _really_ have to wait that long to see you again?"

Stardust nodded his head, but part of him was not liking the decision either. "I'm sorry, but... this is just the way things have to be."

"Well, not exactly," pointed out Twilight, who was now looking through her _Friendship Problem Solving_ book. "You could come once a month or so, at least, and vice versa for us."

Stardust didn't look too sure, and he replied, "Look, it's not that I hate or _not_ enjoy seeing you all, since I technically do that everyday, but I..."

"Jack, come on, really?" Princess Twilight came over to place a hoof on his shoulder, and she added, "I know you're trying to do the sensible thing right now, but after everything that's happened so far... don't you think they deserve a little more than us being placed on an emergency call?"

Stardust turned to look at the others, seeing their awaiting faces, and he said, "Well, before I tell you what my decision is... let's just say that bad things can happen when time travel is involved, as I'm sure we all know at this point... and I don't want some new evil pony creating even worse damage to your world and ours, along with the ones that have alternate versions of me."

"But didn't Princess Celestia and Starswirl take care of that by blocking all of the possible passages?" Twilight asked, and Stardust started to laugh sarcastically while Princess Twilight and Sunset looked at him nervously.

"As much as I have faith in Starswirl that he did his part in making sure nopony gets to those worlds, I am not exactly convinced that your version of Celestia was able to do hers a hundred percent..."

Twilight was about to start an argument with Stardust, but he held up one of his hooves, indicating that he was not finished. " _However..._ even though I feel like I'm going to hate myself one day for doing this... I've decided that they'll be _one_ day per month where I come to this world for a visit, or you can come to ours... but besides that, _we're_ only to be called when something _really_ bad happens here... are we clear on that?"

Casey, Starlight, and the Mane 6 all nodded their heads, with Sunset smirking at her friend, saying, "You really _do_ have a soft spot for us ponies, don't you?"

"Especially _Twilight_ ," reminded Rainbow Dash, snickering to herself, and Stardust turned his head to glare at her. "What? It's true... why else would you have become speechless when seeing our Twilight for the first time-"

" _Okay,_ I'm going back home now..." said Princess Twilight, walking into the Crystal Mirror, and being transported back to her world.

Sunset chuckled nervously, and said, " _I'm gonna go_ and make sure she's okay... see you soon, Stardust."

Once she was gone, Stardust groaned, and shook his head while Rainbow continued with her explanation.

"Or feel all warm and fuzzy inside when she thanked you by kissing you on the cheek?"

While Twilight started to blush again, Stardust glared at the winged pony, and asked, "How did you know about all that?"

"From the other me that came from your world," replied Rainbow, who didn't think she was doing anything wrong. "You aren't mad at her now, are you?"

Stardust sighed, and shook his head, saying, "No, but I'm definitely going to have a talk with her about keeping certain things to herself... did she say anything else to you that I should know about?"

Rainbow tried to remember what else her alternate self had said to her. " _Well_ , since you told me that you weren't going to be _mad_ at her... I was talking to her about how there was one time me and everypony else tried to stop Princess Celestia from having Twilight leave Ponyville because we didn't accept her help for anything, which caused her to pretty much become insane, and she told me that that never happened in your world."

"Why wouldn't it?" asked Pinkie Pie, while Stardust quickly began realizing what the blue Pegasus was about to say.

"Because Stardust pretty much stopped her from not getting _too_ insane by kissing her-"

However, before she could finish her sentence, Stardust interrupted her by saying, "I think you've said quite enough, Rainbow... and I'm warning you _right now_ to never, _ever_ tell _my_ Twilight or anypony else from our world about what I did that day... got it?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes, and said, "Do I _really_ have to-"

" _Are... we... clear or not, Rainbow Dash?"_ Stardust repeated, walking over to the speedster pony so that they were now facing each other eye-to-eye.

The young pony gulped, and quickly nodded her head, saying, "As crystal as the Crystal Empire..."

As Stardust nodded his head, feeling satisfied, Twilight asked, "Did something bad happen after you kissed her, Stardust?"

His anger and irritation going away after hearing her question, Stardust replied, "No, but... let's just say that, if this were a story that she was reading, and she hadn't gotten to a certain part yet that other ponies knew about, I wouldn't want to _spoil_ anything for her."

While Twilight nodded her head, Pinkie Pie asked, "So is this part where you go back home, and we all live happily ever after, without having to worry about some new evil pony causing serious damage to our worlds or anypony else's, even though Starswirl and Princess Celestia blocked all the passages?"

Stardust chuckled, and said, "First of all, Pinkie, I learned a long time ago that everypony has their own version of _happily ever after_... and second, like I said earlier, I am _hoping_ that Celestia was able to be successful in her part with blocking those passages."

"Oh, don't be so worried about it, darling" assured Rarity. "Besides, it's not like she missed any of them on accident..."

* * *

 **[Insert "I Am... All Of Me" by Crush 40, from _Shadow the Hedgehog_ ]  
**

 _As I raced through the pathways of Ponyville on my beloved custom-made chopper, my smile continued to grow, knowing that the plan I created so long ago was finally about to come to fruition... and all because that clueless pony who called herself the "ruler" of Equestria did not even bother to check on our world..._

 _"... which was absolutely perfect," I said to myself, as well as hitting the brakes since I'd already arrived at my destination.  
_

 _After placing my bike on its kickstand, I walked over to the pony who had been awaiting my arrival. "Sorry for the delay, sweetheart... I take it that the portal is still open?"_

 _"Uh-huh," she replied, even though, judging from her facial expression, I could tell that she was clearly not pleased with me being late._

 _So, I simply walked over to the young alicorn, and kissed her with as much passion I could possibly give to her... then, after a few minutes, she gently pushed me back so that she could catch her breath._

 _"Feel better now, Midnight?"_

 _Midnight rolled her eyes, even though she was now smiling at me, and said, "You already know the answer to that... just promise me that you won't be kissing **Twilight** that way once you're in his world."_

 _Aw, she's so cute when she tries to sound jealous._

 _"No need to worry, sweetheart, I just have to kiss her with enough passion that will make her believe I'm actually **him** , and not-"_

 _"His evil self?" She finished for me, and I nodded my head._

 _"Exactly... also, once I'm able to turn everyone against him, that's when I take his spot, and then, I'll bring you and everypony else so that you can all replace them."_

 _Midnight nodded her head, but she then handed to me a photo of an orange-yellow Earth pony. "What about this guy's world?"_

 _"Already planned out in her, my dear," I replied, tapping the side of my head with my hoof after tossing the photo aside. "I have something **very special** in mind for him, as well as my other self."_

 _I then looked at the object in front of us... our world's version of the Crystal Mirror... and imagined that I was speaking to the one pony who would never have a chance in ruining my plan._

 _"I sure hope you've enjoyed these final moments of your life, Stardust... because you're about to lose everything you've ever cared about... I will **rise**..."_

 _I paused, for a moment, to hold up a photo that showed him with Twilight, Spike, Starlight, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity, as well as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and with the help of my own special **energy** , I watched it slowly be burned to a crisp._

 _"While **you** fall..."_

 ** _To Be Continued..._**

* * *

 ** _Author's Post-Note:_ Until then, my friends!  
**

 _ **(Me) Hey! What did I tell you? This isn't "A Journey Beyond Sanity", Stardust!**_

 _ **(Stardust) It might as well be the [BEEP] sequel or spinoff or whatever the hell it is... do you realize how much work you've caused for MY author, who has to find some type of way to explain all of this in MY story?**_

 _ **(Me) Oh, you're just overreacting...**_

 _ **(Stardust) He JUST got done with the AJBS version of season 4!**_

 _ **(Me) Alright, alright, just calm down. I'll talk to him about it... whenever I get the chance... in the meantime, you have to go and get ready for the sequel to this story.**_

 _ **...**_

 _ **...**_

 _ **(Stardust) I'm guest starring in ANOTHER story?! How many do you plan on putting me in?!**_

 _ **(Me) Only two, including one... maybe a trilogy, if-**_

 _ **(Stardust) Am I at least gonna get PAID for the next ones?**_

 _ **(Me) *groans* I TOLD you this already, Stardust... and you're really making it hard for me every time you complain.**_

 _ **(Stardust) Hard about what?**_

 _ **(Me) To simply write about you being stuck permanently in a version of the "Equestria Girls" world, with only Flash and Timber to talk to, so just stay out of... wait, what are you... no, no, no, no, you put that down RIGHT now... ow, ow, ow, okay, I'm sorry, ow... OW... sheesh, alright, I'm sorry, can't you take a joke?**_


	37. Bonus Chapter, Part 1

**My Little Pony: A Race Against Time**

 _Chapter 37 - Bonus Chapter, Part 1_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

 _As shown in the chapter title, what you are about to read is my version of the "bloopers" that we've seen from the Equestria Girls movies, and will hopefully make you laugh... if not, then I hope you simply enjoy it, then._

 _You'll also see (in part two) different versions of certain scenes that I originally had planned one way, but ended up changing it at the last minute, or not even featuring it at all._

 _With all that being said, please enjoy!_

* * *

 **Outtake # 1**

"Casey?" Sunburst said, looking around the train station. "Huh, I could have sworn that I-"

"I'm right here, sir."

Everypony turned to the side, and saw that the orange-yellow pony had now become as flat as a pancake.

"No worries, I can take care of this," assured Pinkie Pie, and she walked over to Casey, pulling out one of her many bendy straws. "Alright, Fernando, let's do this!"

Then, by using the straw, she started to blow air into him, as one would blow air into a balloon.

The others simply watched as the orange-yellow Earth Pony kept on growing... and growing... and growing...

 _Pop!_

Suddenly, also like a balloon, Casey popped into a lot of tiny pieces, and Pinkie gasped, "Oh, my gosh, I killed Casey!"

"It's _Kenny_ ," said Stardust Balance, making his way to the train station. "And you didn't kill him, Pinkie, he's right over-"

"Um, excuse me, but you're not supposed to arrive until later on," said the actual Casey, coming from the other side. "And you're not even at the right set."

Pinkie looked back and forth between Casey and the "popped balloon" Casey, and said, "Oh, _yeah,_ this was just a movie prop. Silly me."

* * *

 **Outtake #2**

"For the _last time,_ Rarity, these belong to the studio," said an irritated Applejack. "Ya can't take this back home."

"But, but... look how _beautiful_ of a job they did, darling," cried Rarity, who was standing by the statue of herself. "It simply _must_ come back with me!"

Applejack rolled her eyes, and asked, "Where are ya gonna even put something that big at anyway?"

"Oh, relax, darling," assured Rarity. "I'll simply ask Twilight if she knows of any shrinking spells that I could use to make this a more appropriate size."

Applejack sighed, and she shook her head, saying, "I worry about you sometimes, sugarcube."

* * *

 **Outtake #3**

 _"We do not sound the same!"_

 _"Do too!"_

As Twilight and Bubbles continued arguing with each other, Rarity shook her head, and said, "Poor Twilight... she reminds of someone figuring that her speaking voice and singing voice is provided by two different people."

"Well, that's just crazy talk," said Applejack. "It's like saying that only somepony does the voice of both me and Rainbow Dash."

"Yeah, just imagine how that person's throat would feel," replied Rainbow.

"That's also like someone saying that she voices me and Fluttershy," added Pinkie Pie. "I mean, _we_ don't sound anything alike, right?"

"Um... no, not really..." said Fluttershy.

* * *

 **Outtake #4**

No..." The hooded pony said, his anger and frustration continuing to rise. "This can't be happening!"

"Oh, but it is..." said Sunset Shimmer, giving him a smug grin.

"Who's the foolish pony now, huh?" Rainbow Dash chuckled.

"You are not a very nice pony," said Fluttershy, a frown on her face.

"Nopony turns us into statues, and gets away with it!" Rarity yelled, who then took a moment to remove some rubble from her mane.

"It was mighty wrong of you to do that to all of us," said Applejack, tilting her hat while giving a sly smile.

"I hope you like frosting," said Pinkie Pie, also smiling. "Because I-"

"Uh, Pinkie," interrupted Twilight. "Where's your party cannon at?"

Everyone looked at the pink pony, who realized that her beloved cannon wasn't with her, and Rowan laughed. "Well, how convenient for me... looks like you-"

 _THUD!_

His sentence was cut off after Pinkie's party cannon landed on top of him, and she said, "Oh, _there it is..._ thanks, Derpy!"

The grey Pegasus pony smiled down at her friends, and gave a salute before flying away.

* * *

 **Outtake #5**

 **I would like to know exactly how in Equestria was he able to hear me**.

 _You're still not [Beep]-ing helping right now,_ thought Stardust

But Twilight wasn't giving up. "What would you have done if you were in his situation?"

Stardust chuckled. "Well, first of all, I wouldn't have mistaken another Twilight for you-"

 **Care to wager a bet, old friend?**

 _Maybe not just yet, Sombra._

Stardust rolled his eyes, and said, "I'm praying that I don't have to deal with you in the sequel."

 **The feeling is mutual.**

Twilight just shook her head.

* * *

 **Outtake #6**

"So, why am I watching something called _Double Rainboom_ again?"

"I _told_ you, Rainbow, it's for research purposes."

Rainbow and Twilight were taking a break in the Green Room, and the alicorn was about to show her friend an animation video on the computer that someone had made involving herself, Rainbow, and the Powerpuff Girls.

"Well, now that I think about it," said Rainbow, smiling. "It would be _awesome_ to see how someone would have me pull it off... alright, Twilight, play it!"

"I'm going, I'm going!"

##############

Once the video was over, Twilight gave Rainbow a look of disapproval. "You had _Spike_ do all of the work?"

"Hey, that video was _not_ accurate at all," exclaimed Rainbow, trying to defend herself. "I would _never_ do anything _that_ stupid and reckless!"

Twlight looked at Rainbow, and raised an eyebrow. "The incident with the Wonderbolts and the tornado?"

"Okay, but I learned my lesson after that," cried Rainbow. "You know what, let's check out the video that's next... maybe _that_ will be a little more accurate!"

Twilight chuckled, and she said, "I'm _kidding,_ Rainbow, relax... but, yeah, sure, let's watch... um... _Cupcakes_?"

###############

"Twilight?" Rainbow said, who was holding her friend tightly.

"Yeah?" answered Twilight, who was doing the same.

"I'm terrified of cupcakes now."

The alicorn princess agreed with her friend, and said, "Who in Equestria would make a video so horri-"

" _Hey, you two! Whatcha doin?"_

Rainbow and Twlight both screamed of horror, and got out of the room as fast as possible... while Pinkie Pie casually took the seat by the computer.

"Huh, I wonder what's wrong with them," said Pinkie, now looking at the computer to see what was playing next.

" _Ooh,_ it's called _Smile HD..._ sounds like fun!"

* * *

 **Outtake #7**

Starlight and Casey looked at each other, and the young unicorn said, "Er, Rarity, you're already in Twilight's castle."

To prove their point, Casey opened the library doors, allowing Rarity to see the castle's hallways and decorations.

"Oh, my gosh..." gasped EG Rarity, not knowing what else to say about the beauty in front of her.

"Huh," wondered Casey. "You'd think they would be more concerned about the fact that they turned into ponies."

Suddenly, Stardust walked over to stand by him, with one of his hooves holding a _Coca-Cola_ bottle. "You and me both, man..."

Casey sighed, and he said, "Stardust, we talked about this... you don't show up until later!"

"Casey, Casey, Casey," said Stardust, letting out a laugh. "I've pretty much taken over this whole thing. All I need now is my own stuffed plushie."

* * *

 **Outtake #8**

Imitating her friend's voice, Rainbow cried, "Jack, Jack, come back! Please don't do this on your own, we need to stick together."

Then, she tried her best imitation of Stardust. "No, love, I have to do this on my own."

Twilight tried holding in her laughter after hearing that, and said, "That's pretty good, actually."

 _"Uh, that sounds nothing like me."_

Rainbow and Twilight turned to see Stardust, who did not look happy.

"You aren't in this scene," replied Rainbow.

Stardust rolled his eyes, and exclaimed, "Well, I can't go in my damn trailer. All of the other Stardusts are in there!"

 **At least you get to have a trailer.**

 _I might have to agree with him on that one, Jack._

"Oh, don't you two start with me," growled Stardust.

* * *

 **Outtake #9**

The dragon looked down at the ground, and began to laugh. "You must be very brave to stand up to me, little pony."

After hearing it speak, a look of confusion appeared on Casey's face. "Why do you sound like Twilight?"

"I asked myself the same exact question," said Discord, as he and the others caught up to him.

" _See?_ " Bubbles exclaimed, appearing next to Twilight, who rolled her eyes, and groaned.

"I thought we _settled this_ already!"

* * *

 **Outtake #10**

 _"Almost... there... must... reach... aaand, I'm here!"_

The crawling Stardust stopped in his tracks, and collapsed to the ground.

 _You are pathetic._

"Not... in the mood... Sombra," muttered Stardust. "Why... can't I have... a damn stunt double for this kind of [BEEP]?"

 **["And... CUT! ALRIGHT, EVERYONE, TAKE FIVE!"]**

Suddenly, Stardust quickly got up on all fours, and he began to head over to his trailer.

 **You realize that the** _ **stunt double**_ **line will probably be removed in post-production, yes?**

"Yeah, but I got to make my own fun every once in a while."

* * *

 **Outtake #11**

Who's Stardust?" Spike asked, curious. "You two have been talking about him every now and then since the events at the Crystal Castle."

Looking at the young dragon, Casey chuckled, and said, "He's a new friend that we've made, Spike... you two would probably get along very well."

" _You didn't tell me this would be in the script!"_

 _"Hey, it's not my fault, okay?"_

The three of them watched with curiosity as Stardust ran away from Princess Twilight, who looked really ticked off.

"Well, now you've seen Stardust, Spike."

* * *

 **Outtake #12**

Stardust looked at the cage, as well, and a smile appeared on his face. "They might not know me personally, but in a way, they are still my closest friends, and I would do anything for them."

"Even us?" Sour Sweet asked, in a positive tone, referring to herself and Sugarcoat.

Stardust sighed, and he replied, "Unfortunately, for me, yes... but that's the farthest I'll go in regards to my own limit of tolerance, so don't push it."

"What about Flash and-"

" _Okay, I'm leaving now!"_

* * *

 **Outtake #13**

"What the-" said Stardust, but before he could finish, Miles appeared right in front of him, and punched him in his chest.

"No!" Twilight and Casey cried, as they watched from their spot that was a few feet away.

 **["And, CUT! That's it for today, everyone!"]**

Princess Twilight quickly went over to check on her boyfriend. "Are you oka... hey, wait a sec... you're not Stardust!"

Stardust coughed a few times, and he replied, "No, I'm his new stunt double."

"Well, then, where is he?"

 _#############_

 _Somewhere else in the studio lot..._

 **I think you should hurry up, boy, before your princess-**

" _Shut it, Sombra, I'll deal with Twilight after I catch Pikachu with... [BEEP], come on, you damn Poké ball!"_

* * *

 **Outtake #14**

Stardust found himself agreeing with Starswirl, but then, to his and everypony else's surprise, Fluttershy paused her warm embrace to deliver a kiss onto the young pony's muzzle.

"Uh-oh..." said Casey and Twilight, who both turned to see what the other Twilight's reaction was going to be.

 **["Hold it! Stardust, could you be a bit more... relaxed when kissing Fluttershy?"]**

" _More relaxed_?" Stardust exclaimed, as he pulled away from the yellow Pegasus pony. "Dude, I'm giving my damn _A-Game_ here!"

 _##############_

"Um... I..." Stardust said, after he'd finished his kiss with her, which also caused the area's transformation to stop. "This isn't... what you think..."

 **["Cut! Stardust, come on, work with me here, this** _ **has**_ **to feel real for everyone!"]**

 _"Not everyone_ ," muttered Princess Twilight.

As for Stardust, he groaned, and said, "I'm _trying,_ man, but it's a little weird to kiss Fluttershy when my girlfriend is right here watch-"

 **["And, action!"]**

Fluttershy began kissing Stardust again, and Princess Twilight was trying her best to remain calm.

 _It's just acting, it's just acting._

 _###############_

"Stardust, can you actually believe that... hey!"

Stuck in another trance, Stardust had allowed Fluttershy to kiss him again, and-

 **["Alright, that's a wrap for tonight! Great job, Stardust and Fluttershy!"]**

"No problem," said the two of them, while Princess Twilight was gritting her teeth together in frustration.

* * *

 **Outtake #15**

His body was shaking with rage, and-

 _Whoosh!_

"Pinkie, stop!" yelled Princess Twilight, and the pink pony quickly shut off the firefighter water hose that she was currently holding in her hooves... while Stardust was now soaking wet.

Everypony looked at her, and Pinkie Pie simply shrugged. "He looked like he was burning up."

 **["Hold on, let's do this again! We need more water!"]**

 _"What the [BEEP]?"_ Stardust exclaimed, but then, he ended up getting blasted again by Pinkie's water hose.

 **["Fantastic, Pinkie, great job! Can we get some towels for Stardust, please?"]**

 _"[BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!]"_

* * *

 **Outtake #16**

Before Princess Twilight could say anything, Stardust slammed his foot on the accelerator pedal...

 _CRASH!_

... and reversed right into the emtpy car that was parked behind them.

" _Wait a sec_!" Stardust yelled. "Can I do that again? I don't think it was believable enough."

 _############_

 _CRASH!_

"Um... nah, not really feeling that one," said Stardust. "One more time?"

 _##############_

 _CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!_

 _"Stardust!"_ yelled Princess Twilight.

"Alright, we're good," laughed Stardust, and he finally drove away.

* * *

 **Outtake #17**

Then, before he could leave, the young alicorn gave him a kiss on the cheek, and teased him a little by saying, "I can see why she likes you."

Casey tried to hold in his laughter, while Stardust found himself unable to move.

"Uh... I..."

" _Okay, that is it!_ " yelled Princess Twilight, reappearing on the set. "That _definitely_ wasn't in my script!"

Twilight quickly looked at her own copy, and said, "Huh... it's in mine."

Princess Twilight glared at Stardust, and she cried, "You're sleeping on the couch tonight!"

" _What? Why?_ " Stardust exclaimed. " _We don't sleep together_!"

 _"And we won't be anytime soon, which is why you're sleeping on the couch!"_

Stardust rolled his eyes, and started going after his upset girlfriend. " _I have my own bed, you know!"_

 _"Well, you can't sleep there anymore... my castle, my room, my bed!"_

" _Okay, now that's just [BEEP], Twilight!"_

 _"Make that_ _ **two**_ _nights on the couch!"_

 _"WHAT?!"_

Twilight looked at Casey, and asked, "You don't think we'll end up like them, do you?"

"I certainly hope not," replied Casey.


End file.
